WOLVERHAMPTON, England (AP) — An England soccer manager is accused of celebrating in front of a 13-year-old ball boy after scoring the winning goal late in Saturday's thrilling FA Cup quarter-final match. He was criticized by a rival coach.
After his team scored in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time to secure a 3-2 win over Wolverhampton, Coventry manager Mark Robins ran up to the ball boy, crouched down towards him, then turned towards him. I did a fist pump.
Robins abruptly apologized for his actions in the post-game press conference, saying that before the late goal, the ball boy had dropped the ball in front of him and had caused him trouble by walking away with a smile on his face.
“At the end of the day, he's a kid,” Robbins said. “He reacted, we scored and I went over to him and celebrated.
“I'm sorry for him but…I don't show much emotion but that's the FA Cup. I apologize to him unreservedly.”
Wolves manager Gary O'Neill said Robins' conduct was “disgusting”.
“I'm disappointed,” O'Neill said. “I waited for Mark downstairs and spoke to him. After losing the big game, I waited for them to finish celebrating and shook everyone’s hand and congratulated them on arriving at Wembley and performing really well. And lo and behold, it was an amazing accomplishment.
“And he apologized. But I thought it was disgusting to celebrate with that boy's face. The boy is really upset. That shouldn't happen, but he feels bad because he lost.” , there's not much to say. But I thought it was really important to talk to Mark about this, because these are kids who are just doing their jobs.”
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