While North Korea’s men’s soccer team lost in the quarterfinals against Japan and was unable to advance to the semifinals, controversy arose after they made threatening gestures while protesting to the referee after the game.
North Korea lost 1-2 to Japan in the men’s soccer quarterfinals of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Xiaoshan Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China yesterday (1st Korean time).
The first half ended evenly, 0-0, but North Korea gave up the lead to Japan’s Kotaro Uchino five minutes into the second half.
Then, in the 29th minute of the second half, North Korea’s Kim Kook-beom scored an equalizer to bring the game back to square one.
However, in the 35th minute of the second half, not long after the equalizer, a penalty kick was awarded to Japan’s Yuta Matsumura, and this goal became the winning goal, ultimately giving Japan a ticket to the semifinals.
After the penalty kick decision, North Korea strongly protested to the referee, but the decision was not overturned.
Even after the whistle blew at the토토사이트 end of the game, North Korean players rushed to the referee to protest the decision of a penalty kick that ended up being the winning goal, expressing their dissatisfaction strongly. In the process, some players displayed somewhat extreme behavior, such as pushing the referee with their bodies and arms. .
At a press conference held after the game, North Korean coach Shin Yong-nam said of the situation, “It is true that some players were a little excited,” but defended the players by saying, “I think it is an insult to soccer if the referees are not fair.”
Meanwhile, North Korea’s Kim Yu-sung asked for water from a Japanese staff member who entered the stadium to treat an injured player, but when the staff member did not notice, he raised his left fist towards the staff member and made a striking gesture, receiving a warning.