Shocking Moment Ali Al-Bulayhi Amused Son Heung-Min with Some Pushing and Hair-Grabbing in AsianCup
- 3 months ago
Saudi Arabia's Ali Al-Bulayhi was up to his old mischievous tricks in his nation's match against South Korea at the Asian Cup - and Son Heung-min was his latest target.
Al-Bulayhi pushed Son in the chest while he wasn't looking and held his hand on the forward's head during their last 16 clash, which South Korea won on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
It follows other provocative encounters Lionel Messi at the World Cup in 2022 and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League in December.
The serial taunter, 34, didn't face any consequences for trying to unsettle Son but he didn't get the better of the Spurs frontman, who laughed.
And Son would come away from the day with a broader grin after Cho Gue-sung's 99th-minute equalizer led to South Korea winning 4-2 on penalties.
Saudi boss Roberto Mancini could not bear to watch his side lose and exited down the tunnel before Hwang Hee-chan converted the decisive penalty.
Al-Bulayhi, a four-time Saudi Pro League winner, might not be the biggest name in world football, but he has fronted up to some of the best the game has ever seen.
At the Qatar World Cup, the defender told Messi 40 minutes from time that 'you will not win'. Quite the prophecy, because Saudi Arabia went on to win 2-1 against eventual champions Argentina in one of the grandest shocks in World Cup history.
Messi opened the scoring but Saleh Al-Shehri equalized, and when Salem Al-Dawsari gave his side a surprise lead five minutes later, Al-Bulayhi had a confident message for the opposition captain.
After the 53rd-minute goal, instead of celebrating with his teammates, Al-Bulayhi raced over to a surprised Messi, slapping him heartily on the back to get his attention.
As he admitted after the match, he then said 'You will not win, you will not win!' - a brave thing to say with 35 minutes plus a lengthy period of added time left to play, though his cheeky prediction was later proved correct.
Messi looked stunned as Al-Bulayhi grabbed his shirt to symbolise his pride in his country, before half-smiling as he turned away.
Argentina stars Papu Gomez and Lautaro Martinez then, seeing the altercation, raced over to push the 33-year-old Al-Hilal center back away from their team-mate.
In December last year, he took things a step further when he clashed against Cristiano Ronaldo in a league match.
Al-Bulayhi was filmed having a heated confrontation with the former Manchester United star, leaning in and saying things in his ear.
Ronaldo was unimpressed with what he deemed to be playacting from Al-Bulayhi and pretended that he couldn't hear as his opponent raged at him.
Former Liverpool and Bayern Munich winger Sadio Mane, one of Ronaldo's Al-Nassr team-mates, was also seen sarcastically clapping Al-Bulayhi.
Al-Bulayhi was later sent off in the closing stages of the game after receiving two yellow cards.
Al-Bulayhi pushed Son in the chest while he wasn't looking and held his hand on the forward's head during their last 16 clash, which South Korea won on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
It follows other provocative encounters Lionel Messi at the World Cup in 2022 and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League in December.
The serial taunter, 34, didn't face any consequences for trying to unsettle Son but he didn't get the better of the Spurs frontman, who laughed.
And Son would come away from the day with a broader grin after Cho Gue-sung's 99th-minute equalizer led to South Korea winning 4-2 on penalties.
Saudi boss Roberto Mancini could not bear to watch his side lose and exited down the tunnel before Hwang Hee-chan converted the decisive penalty.
Al-Bulayhi, a four-time Saudi Pro League winner, might not be the biggest name in world football, but he has fronted up to some of the best the game has ever seen.
At the Qatar World Cup, the defender told Messi 40 minutes from time that 'you will not win'. Quite the prophecy, because Saudi Arabia went on to win 2-1 against eventual champions Argentina in one of the grandest shocks in World Cup history.
Messi opened the scoring but Saleh Al-Shehri equalized, and when Salem Al-Dawsari gave his side a surprise lead five minutes later, Al-Bulayhi had a confident message for the opposition captain.
After the 53rd-minute goal, instead of celebrating with his teammates, Al-Bulayhi raced over to a surprised Messi, slapping him heartily on the back to get his attention.
As he admitted after the match, he then said 'You will not win, you will not win!' - a brave thing to say with 35 minutes plus a lengthy period of added time left to play, though his cheeky prediction was later proved correct.
Messi looked stunned as Al-Bulayhi grabbed his shirt to symbolise his pride in his country, before half-smiling as he turned away.
Argentina stars Papu Gomez and Lautaro Martinez then, seeing the altercation, raced over to push the 33-year-old Al-Hilal center back away from their team-mate.
In December last year, he took things a step further when he clashed against Cristiano Ronaldo in a league match.
Al-Bulayhi was filmed having a heated confrontation with the former Manchester United star, leaning in and saying things in his ear.
Ronaldo was unimpressed with what he deemed to be playacting from Al-Bulayhi and pretended that he couldn't hear as his opponent raged at him.
Former Liverpool and Bayern Munich winger Sadio Mane, one of Ronaldo's Al-Nassr team-mates, was also seen sarcastically clapping Al-Bulayhi.
Al-Bulayhi was later sent off in the closing stages of the game after receiving two yellow cards.