THIS WAS the shock moment that North Korea’s football stars ATTACKED the referee after they were beaten by Japan.
North Korea boss Sin Yong Nam defended his players despite their angry reaction to the 2-1 defeat in the quarter-finals of the Asian Games yesterday.
Captain Jang Kuk Chol and his colleague Kim Kyong Sok were seen on camera remonstrating furiously and shoving the arm of official Rustam Lutfullin following the full-time whistle in Hangzhou.
The Uzbekistan referee tried to back away as the players continued to pursue him as the assist referees and security staff raced over to intervene.
And Tong Nam himself even ran over in an attempt to try and defuse the explosive situation.
The North Korean team were furious about Lutfullin’s decision to award Japan a penalty after goalkeeper Kang Juh Yok clipped the feet of Jun Nishikawa with his arm.
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The stopper instantly began shaking his head in frustration and waving his arms as he argued with the whistleblower.
But his protests were to no avail, and Yuta Matsumura kept his cool to slot home in the 80th minute to seal Japan’s progress into the semis.
The scenes soon went viral and fans across the globe quickly condemned the behaviour of the North Korean players afterwards.
But Tong Nam bizarrely said post-game: “I admit that our players were a little bit over-excited in the match but it is football.
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“But there are confrontations in football matches… I think our behaviour is acceptable.”
Meanwhile, opposite number Go Oiwa said: “This match was as we expected.
“There are some things (we are) not happy about in the match but basically we can accept that.”
Japan will now face Hong Kong in the semis after they caused an upset by beating Iran 1-0.
Defending champions South Korea are also into the last four after a 2-0 win over hosts China.
And they will take on Uzbekistan, who had overcome Saudi Arabia 2-1 earlier in the day.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
