Ugly scenes spoil Asian Cup semifinals during match
Ugly scenes spoil Asian Cup semifinals during match
SHARJAH, UAE (AFP): Ugly scenes after a 90th minute equalizer by host club Al Shaab from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates marred its Asian Cup Winners' cup semi-final clash with Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad Friday.
Police had to protect the South Korean referee from furious Saudi officials protesting his handling of the game which ended in a 1-1 draw.
The host club went on to win with a 4-3 penalty shoot out after extra time failed to produce a result and will play Japan's Yokohama Flugels in the final today.
Flugels triumphed 4-2 over the Telephone Organization of Thailand from Bangkok in their semifinal encounter.
Ittihad took the lead in the clash with Al Shaab with a 27th minute header from striker Abdullah Fawal but had left back Ahmed Eesa sent off in the 59th minute for his second bookable offense.
With the match seven minutes into injury time, Al Shaab won a corner on the right wing from which Jasim Mohammed al Doukhi turned in the equalizer.
Ittihad only had time to kick-off before Korean referee Kim Kwang-taek signaled the end of the 90 minutes -- but the start of extra time was delayed for 15 minutes as police and stadium security staff formed a human barricade around Kim and his linesmen.
Furious Saudi players and officials had to be restrained, irate that so much stoppages time had been added on. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation may face disciplinary action from the continent's governing body the Asian Football Confederation over the ugly scenes.
The scenes were reminiscent of the recent Asian Youth Under 16 championship in Doha, Qatar, where Saudi players and coaching staff attacked the referee after a defeat by China. This led to two players being banned for two years, five others and a coach for one year and the Saudi Federation being fined US$10,000.
When extra time finally got underway, neither side managed to score again resulting in a penalty shootout which Al Shaab won 4- 3 for an overall 5-4 victory.
As the home players formed a circle and danced in delight Ittihad's Russian coach, Boris Ignatev did not hide his feelings in the post-match press conference.
"The referee would never work in Europe with a performance like that," he said. "It was a prepared program against our team aimed at destroying Ittihad, everyone could see that. Our players were psychologically destroyed by the referee."
The second semifinal was quiet by contrast, despite six goals and plenty of fast, flowing football from both teams.
The Thais took the lead with a header from skipper Pongtorn Thiubthong in the 14th minute but the Japanese gained control afer the break.