Heart break for Iraq at 2024 AFC Asian Cup: referee red cards top scorer for goal celebration

[ASHOOR]

This almost hurt as much if not more than Brazil's loss to Croatia at the 2022 World Cup.

Having conceded first, Iraq had to come from behind against Jordan and take a commanding 2-1 lead with a about 15 mins to go in regulation time. But that second goal by Ayman Hussein - his tournament leading 6th goal - proved to be very costly. After celebrating the goal, probably a bit too excessively, the referee gave him a second yellow which resulted in Iraq playing with 10 men for the next 20 mins or so. This led to Jordan scoring the tying and winning goal in matter of one and a half minute!

To say the team and Iraqis in general are furious and frustrated is an understatement. There is already a Change.org petition to have this referee suspended and it has already gotten half a million signatures. Speaking of which, this (Iranian) referee has now been in charge of 4 games that Iraq has played and Iraq has lost each one of them.

In today's game, while I never though it would lead to a yellow card (Ayman already had another questionable yellow earlier in the game) , I did think Ayman went overboard with his celebration, no matter how important and decisive that goal was. But to give him a second yellow, in such a crucial time of the game, leading to Iraq going one man down, is something no one can forgive. Even other international newspapers and websites were puzzled how a referr would give a red card for a goal celebration, even if it went a bit over one min. I mean that is what extra time is for, right? In fact, Jordan's first goal celebration took just as much time, but the referee never had a problem with it. Now don't get me wrong, if Ayman didn't have a prior yellow, by all mean, give him a yellow card. But to give him a red for celebrating? Never been seen, and as a result, Iraq paid for it dearly.

BTW, I thought Jordan had the better first half. They were simply more prepared for the game, unlike Iraq which were still riding the high from beating Japan, In fact, beating Japan has proven to be a double edge sword for Iraq. Yes it gave them confidence, but I feel like that confidence is what led to them coming out flat today against Jordan, as they had assumed victory was a guarantee.


Couple of positives for Iraq: I feel like this Spanish coach is putting things on the right path and the team can compete for the 2026 world cup; it helps that Asia will now have more seats, thanks to the expanded 48 team format (ridiculous!)
The other is that Ayman may remain top scorer for the tournament (with 6 goals), if that even matters to him. The irony about Ayman, is that for years, despite being a very good player and scorer, has been opposed and disliked by so many people in Iraq and blame him for Iraq (and his club) when they do bad. And now, just when he was emerging as a superstar in this tournament, even scoring the winning goal, this happens and it all collapses. This will probably reinforce some people's dislike for him and say "See, we told you so, he is the reason for Iraq's woes"

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amg6QvJjCBc

Joy and controversy as Jordan defeat Iraq in Asian Cup’s most dramatic match

For Jordan, pure joy and a shot at history. For Iraq, dejection. For the rest of the continent, and indeed the world, the best game of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 so far came on Monday afternoon at the Khalifa International Stadium as Al-Nashama somehow came back from certain defeat to score two...

www.arabnews.com

 

[Crocodile Bani]

I politely and respectfully disagree.

I watched the whole game. The celebration took so long that I was falling asleep waiting for the game to re-start (Australia has the worst time zone for soccer fans). I am all for celebrating a goal but no need to turn a celebration into a public holiday.

Ayman, a gifted and skillful striker only has himself to blame. It is he that Iraqis should be angry with and not the referee. I don't care if he is Iranian and if he refereed Iraq 4 times and they lost all 4 times. The referee was doing his job and Ayman should have been more responsible, knowing he had a yellow card already.

I watched all of Iraq's matches. if you noticed, they always conceded late goals. Against my 2nd team Japan, Iraq was clearly the better team but they conceded a late goal which gave Japan some hope. Against Vietnam, Iraq was leading 2-1 and stupidly allowed Vietnam to equalise at the death of the game. Thankfully for Iraq, they got an even later goal to make it 3-2, but Iraq should have fixed their concentration after these incidents.

Whilst playing with one less player, Ayman is an out and out striker, so he has little to do with the defensive side of the game. Blaming his red card is a poor excuse as he would not have made any difference to the defence. Iran had their striker sent off against Syria but still won (albeit via penalties). Iraq had the game won against Jordan but once again, dropped their concentration as they did against Japan and Vietnam and conceded 2 late goals, almost to emphasise how poor their concentration has been throughout the tournament and that they were lucky against Vietnam and they should have learned, but didn't.

Iraq will come good if they learn to concentrate for the whole match. They have a great blend of physicality and skill. I was so confident Iraq would win the cup, that I had a bet on them. Iraq wasn't the only one who lost

 

[ASHOOR]

I politely and respectfully disagree.

I watched the whole game. The celebration took so long that I was falling asleep waiting for the game to re-start (Australia has the worst time zone for soccer fans). I am all for celebrating a goal but no need to turn a celebration into a public holiday.

Ayman, a gifted and skillful striker only has himself to blame. It is he that Iraqis should be angry with and not the referee. I don't care if he is Iranian and if he refereed Iraq 4 times and they lost all 4 times. The referee was doing his job and Ayman should have been more responsible, knowing he had a yellow card already.

I watched all of Iraq's matches. if you noticed, they always conceded late goals. Against my 2nd team Japan, Iraq was clearly the better team but they conceded a late goal which gave Japan some hope. Against Vietnam, Iraq was leading 2-1 and stupidly allowed Vietnam to equalise at the death of the game. Thankfully for Iraq, they got an even later goal to make it 3-2, but Iraq should have fixed their concentration after these incidents.

Whilst playing with one less player, Ayman is an out and out striker, so he has little to do with the defensive side of the game. Blaming his red card is a poor excuse as he would not have made any difference to the defence. Iran had their striker sent off against Syria but still won (albeit via penalties). Iraq had the game won against Jordan but once again, dropped their concentration as they did against Japan and Vietnam and conceded 2 late goals, almost to emphasise how poor their concentration has been throughout the tournament and that they were lucky against Vietnam and they should have learned, but didn't.

Iraq will come good if they learn to concentrate for the whole match. They have a great blend of physicality and skill. I was so confident Iraq would win the cup, that I had a bet on them. Iraq wasn't the only one who lost

Unfortunately, and while I still think the red was a bit harsh, I have to agree with most of yours points here Bani! As I was watching his celebration and while I never thought it would lead to a red, I too thought it was too long and overboard.

Which brings us to the next excellent point you made, which is something a lot of Iraqis - fans and journalists - also made, which is that going a man down shouldn't be the end of the world or some form or soccer death sentence. Hundreds of teams and clubs go a man down every year, and it doesn't spell their end, especially if they already had the lead. Their concentration was indeed lacking and coach didn't put any emphasis on parking the bus or solidifying the defense in light of losing a player and to protect a crucial lead.

While I generally like this coach and has made huge progress for Iraq, he needs to work on the defensive effort as it was clearly lacking: this is evident by the fact that they let in at least one goal in each game they played.

 

[Eddie Yousif]

Good to see both of you still running the Sports Section.... Life is so quick and busy, I keep forgetting about this Forum LOL

The Red Card was very harsh, however I seen some refs give it out. It was not totally false. Iraqi players have no Education. They need learn and mature. There was no need for this type of Celebration. Grow up!

This entire tournament was not handled well by Iraq from a management point of view. Players allowed to stay late, hang around with fans, go on Social Media, and mock other teams as if they are Champions already.

 

[Crocodile Bani]

Good to see both of you still running the Sports Section.... Life is so quick and busy, I keep forgetting about this Forum LOL

The Red Card was very harsh, however I seen some refs give it out. It was not totally false. Iraqi players have no Education. They need learn and mature. There was no need for this type of Celebration. Grow up!

This entire tournament was not handled well by Iraq from a management point of view. Players allowed to stay late, hang around with fans, go on Social Media, and mock other teams as if they are Champions already.

when it comes to the technical side of the game, I still rate Iraq the best in this tournament. Just like Brazil in 1982, they were the best on the park in terms of being easy on the eye, but due to ill discipline and game management, will be forgotten in a few years. Yes, maturity let them down. Ayman is a great striker but not very smart.

 

[ASHOOR]

Good to see both of you still running the Sports Section.... Life is so quick and busy, I keep forgetting about this Forum LOL

The Red Card was very harsh, however I seen some refs give it out. It was not totally false. Iraqi players have no Education. They need learn and mature. There was no need for this type of Celebration. Grow up!

This entire tournament was not handled well by Iraq from a management point of view. Players allowed to stay late, hang around with fans, go on Social Media, and mock other teams as if they are Champions already.

Totally agree! While it was nice to see Iraqis enjoying their time in Doha, they were overdoing it, including online. With every victory, they would celebrate like no tomorrow, as if they won the title. Add in the victory over Japan, and they were way overconfident to the point they were looking past every opponent, especially Jordan.

They need a lot more focus for the WCQ: enough is enough, Iraq has to finally make it back to the world cup after 40 year absence. To make matters worse, this is an expanded edition, so easier to qualify. No excuses!

ASHOOR