South Korea were left bemoaning a lack of fairness after head coach Paulo Bento was sent off at the end of their 3-2 defeat to Ghana due to a furious reaction to his side not being allowed to take a late corner.
During a thrilling contest at Education City Stadium, Ghana found themselves 3-2 up after Mohammed Kudus second goal of the game halted South Korea s momentum.
The Taeguk Warriors, who had previously fought back from 2-0 down thanks to a Cho Gue-sung brace, piled the pressure on at the end and got themselves a corner.
But referee Anthony Taylor blew for full-time before they could take the set-piece, sparking a frustrated reaction from Bento, whose side were left bottom of Group H with one point heading into their final game.
Bento s red card meant he was banned from taking part in the post-match media conference, but his assistant Sergio Costa was more than willing to state his boss case.
Totally unfair, Costa said of the situation. In the first half they let a similar situation be played.
The referee took that opportunity away, Paulo reacted. He said nothing that was inappropriate to the referee, but he does what he knows. I think it s a lack of fairness.
I think the reaction is one of a person and group who feel lack of fairness at the end of the match.
[Bento] is emotional and defends his own until the last. We are all able to understand his reaction.
That sometimes leads to reactions that are part of what a human being is made of. It was normal of someone who did everything for the win.
I believe we should feel sad, feel a lack of justice at the end, but also be proud. We gave our souls and that s something we ll try to repeat.
List of cards given to coaches at the 2022 so far:
Paulo Bento vs Uruguay (yellow)
Paulo Bento vs Ghana (red)
list ends
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst)
While Bento s absence for South Korea s crucial final group match – which they need to win – against Portugal is far from ideal, Costa suggested the situation will boost the team s unity.
We shall continue to prepare in same way as other matches our strategy will not fail, Costa added. He won t be present on the matchday, which is a loss because Paulo is obviously a great manager, but I think it will bring us together.
Kudus proved decisive for Ghana after also impressing against Portugal on matchday one, with his brace on Monday making him the second-youngest African player ever to score twice in a World Cup game.
Ghana coach Otto Addo seemed reluctant to lavish Kudus with praise before the game, but he was more forthcoming afterwards and reserved a special mention for the Right To Dream academy, where the Ajax midfielder honed his skills as a youngster before making the most of their link-up with Denmark s Nordsjaelland.
Addo said: He s a good character, like everyone else. He s a good player who is good one-on-one; he s fast and has very good game intelligence.
He has to work more defensively, for sure, but he s on the right track to be a great player. I just have high praise for him.
I ve known him for six or seven years, from the time I was working as an assistant at Nordsjaelland, where we have a cooperation with the Right to Dream academy, so also congratulations to them, for this really, really good education.
Players like him and Kamaldeen [Sulemana] are extraordinary on and off the pitch. They are good guys, good characters. Congratulations to [Right to Dream] for creating such a player.
