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S. Korea coach calls out Jordan for playing ‘bed football’ ahead of Olympic qualifying showdown

January 22, 2016

Shin Tae-yong (L), coach of South Korea’s under-23 football team, and Jamal Abu Abed, coach of Jordan’s under-23 team, shake hands during a press conference in Doha on Jan. 22, 2016, a day before their teams meet in the quarterfinals of the Asian U-23 Championships. (Yonhap)

DOHA (Yonhap) — On the eve of his team’s showdown against Jordan at the Olympic men’s football qualifying tournament, South Korea head coach Shin Tae-yong called out his opponent, challenging the Middle East team to play the game the “right way.”

South Korea and Jordan on Saturday will clash in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship, which is also the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Only the top three nations will get to play in the Summer Games.

At his pre-match press conference, Shin was asked about keys to the matchup, and responded that Jordanian players shouldn’t resort to playing what Koreans call “bed football (침대축구),” a term referring to time-wasting tactics in which players go down in pain on even slightest of contact and remain on the pitch to run down the clock when their team has a lead. Middle East teams have long been accused of trying to running down the clock by embellishing injuries, sometimes when their own players initiate contact.

“Jordan are a powerful team, both physically and mentally, and they shouldn’t be playing that kind of football,” Shin said. “It’s just not gentlemanlike. We must not play a match that’s embarrassing to watch.”

Jamal Abu-Abed, Jordan’s coach, didn’t specifically respond to Shin’s comments, only saying that South Korea are “a speedy team that can change their tactics on the fly.”

After the press conference, Shin told South Korean reporters he’d deliberately brought up the issue to get on the nerves of his counterpart.

The kickoff will be 4:30 p.m. at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium in the Qatari capital, or 10:30 p.m. in South Korean time (5:30 a.m. in Los Angeles).