The Qatar and South Korea national teams arrived about 30 minutes late for their Asian Games Group D match in Nagoya after their bus drivers got lost. The match was scheduled for a 7:30 PM kick-off at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Rugby Field.
A representative of the South Korean team said, "the drivers of both team buses went to a nearby baseball stadium instead of the football stadium." The football venue is part of the Mizuho Sports Park complex, which also houses baseball and athletics facilities. The buses finally reached the correct location around 6:20 PM, with players taking to the pitch for warm-up at approximately 6:45 PM in heavy rain.
The South Korean representative added that such a situation "should not have occurred at an international competition," noting that the Korea Football Association had not yet filed an official complaint. This logistical hiccup follows an incident on Monday where South Korea's head coach, Lee Min-sung, was several minutes late for a pre-tournament press conference after the organizing committee failed to send the assigned car to the team hotel.
The disrupted preparation comes as the Qatar national team handles a challenging period in World Cup qualifying. They currently sit 4th in their group with just 1 point from 3 games, trailing leaders Switzerland by 6 points. Their recent form shows no wins in the last five outings (two draws, three losses), including back-to-back defeats, with the most recent a 3-1 loss to Bosnia & Herzegovina on June 24.
Attention now turns to Qatar's next fixture, a home match against Bahrain on September 24.
First reported at ua.news
