Paulo Bento apologizes for red-card outburst after Korea-Ghana match

Korea national team head coach Paulo Bento on Tuesday apologized to the Taeguk Warriors about his outburst on Monday after the match against Ghana that resulted in a red card and a suspension for Korea's final group stage match against Portugal.

Korean national team coach Paulo Bento is given a red card by English referee Anthony Taylor during the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group H football match between Korea and Ghana at the Education City Stadium in Al-Rayyan, west of Doha, on Monday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Korean national team head coach Paulo Bento answers questions during a Qatar World Cup press conference at Al Egla Training Site in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Korea national team head coach Paulo Bento on Tuesday apologized to the Taeguk Warriors about his outburst on Monday after the match against Ghana that resulted in a red card and a suspension for Korea's final group stage match against Portugal.

Bento was shown a red card in the wake of Korea’s 3-2 defeat against Ghana on Monday at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan of Doha, Qatar, and is now unable to stay on the sidelines of Korea’s last group stage match against Portugal.

After conceding two goals in the first half, Korea’s Cho Gue-sung managed to equalize the scoring with goals in the 58th and 61st minute. But seven minutes later, Ghana's Mohammed Kudus scored the winner, taking the scoring to 3-2.

Monday’s game ended in particularly galling fashion for Korea, as referee Anthony Taylor blew the whistle to end the game on a Korean corner.

The decision to end the game in a potential goal-scoring position was highly controversial. Although technically within the letter of the law, referees generally wait until any scoring opportunity has passed before ending the game.

Taylor's reasoning, undoubtedly, was that the allotted 10 minutes had past and he had already allowed a minute more before the ball went out of play. But that's a difficult argument to make with such a huge moment in such a big game, especially considering the delays there had been during injury time.

Adding insult to injury, Taylor showed Bento a red card when the coach protested the decision after the end of the game, a decision that is again within the referee's rights, but appears to be a huge overreaction in reality.

As a result, Bento will not be on the sidelines when Korea face Portugal. Assistant coach Sergio Costa will taking charge instead on Friday.

"I'd like to express my apologies to my players," Bento said on Tuesday. "I don’t think that was the best reaction in that situation. However, I, too, am human. But I don’t think that the referee, who also works in the Premier League, had respect for our team. I am very sorry for my players.”

Korea’s loss against Ghana made Korea’s advancement to the knock out stage even harder. After the 0-0 draw against Uruguay, Korea was looking to beat Ghana as they are the only lower-ranked country in Group H, hoping to add three points to the table.

However, their hopes were dashed on Monday.

Ghana took a quick lead in the first half with Mohammed Salisu opening the scoring in the 24th minute and Mohammed Kudus scoring the second goal.

The first goal was controversial, with a VAR check to see if there had been a Ghana handball in the lead-up. Despite what appeared to be, from television footage, clear ball-to-hand contact, referee Anthony Taylor allowed the goal to stand.

After the whistle for half time blew with 2-0 on the scoreboard, it was K League top scorer Cho who came to the rescue, scoring both of Korea's goals in the second half. Cho's goal in the 58th minute marked Korea's first shot on target of the entire tournament.

With substitute Lee Kang-in's assist from the left, Cho headed in the first goal in the 58th minute, then came back three minutes later, diving into the Ghana net to head in defender Kim Jin-su's cross.

Despite Cho scoring a brace for Korea and keeping the score equal at 2-2 for seven minutes, Ghana's Kudus found another chance and beat Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-kyu in the 68th minute.

Korea spent the next 30 minutes hammering at the Ghana goal but repeatedly failed to break through, leaving the Taeguk Warriors with a tough 3-2 loss and an extremely difficult path to the round of 16.

Korean forward Cho Gue-sung, right, scores his team's second goal during the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group H football match between Korea and Ghana at the Education City Stadium in Al-Rayyan, west of Doha, on Monday. [AFP/YONHAP]

"I think football is kind of like life because you learn to accept this kind of situation and move on,” said Bento.

“I don’t think the result was fair though, and we played well in many aspects of the game. For our final match, we have to try to keep up the good work and learn from our mistakes from the past two matches. We will need to push ourselves to our limit especially against a strong team like Portugal.”

As of press time, Korea has dropped down to third in Group H with one point, from the draw with Uruguay last Thursday. Portugal now have six points after beating Ghana 3-2 last week then also beating Uruguay 2-0 on Monday. Ghana now has three points after beating Korea 3-2, and Uruguay has one point.

"We faced many different challenges along the way,” said Bento.

“But I think in the process, we were able to prove that we can stick to our style of play and still be competitive at the World Cup against strong teams. We will take the challenge head on in our last group stage match and pour in everything we have to the match."

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]