Iraq's Aymen Hussein sent off for ‘over-celebrating’ at Asian Cup | OneFootball

Highlights

We've seen some crazy red cards over the years, but none quite like Iraqi star Aymen Hussein, who was sent off in controversial fashion during an Asian Cup round of 16 meeting with Jordan after he thought he'd won the game for his country. The forward put his side in front late in the second half but was sent off for what the referee deemed was an over-the-top celebration shortly afterwards.

To make things worse, the moment proved to be a significant one in the match and giving Jordan the one-man advantage handed them the opportunity to get back into the contest. They eventually turned the game on its head, scoring twice in stoppage-time to come back and secure the win.

Was Hussein's celebration really so extreme that it warranted being sent off, though? Well, let's take a closer look.

He received his second yellow card for it

Scoring to put your country ahead in a knockout game is always going to lead to a passionate response. That's only natural, so it's not surprising to see Hussein reacting in the manner in which he did. What is surprising, though, is the fact that the referee deemed it worthy of a second yellow card and gave the striker his marching orders for it.

It's relatively tame and while it's certainly unique and quite a bizarre celebration, it's not really offensive, so Hussein will likely feel hard done by following the decision. Especially considering how significant a role it played in the eventual outcome of the match and Jordan's comeback.

Goals in the 95th and 97th-minute turned things around

To make matters worse for Hussein, his sending off, and Iraq going down to 10 men essentially played a key role as Jordan came from behind and scored twice in injury time to turn things around and get the win. They came from one goal down to win the contest 3-2 after Yazan Al-Arab and Nizar Al-Rashdan scored in the 95th and 97th minute respectively to seal the win for Jordan.

Jordan had actually taken the lead during the first half after Yazan Al-Naimat found the back of the net shortly before half-time. Iraq then came from behind in the second half through efforts from Saad Natiq and Hussein, and it looked as though they'd done enough to get the result and progress. Those stoppage-time strikes changed that, though, and Jordan picked up a historic victory at the expense of Hussein's sending-off.

The result sees Iraq eliminated from the Asian Cup in the Round of 16 and both Hussein and the rest of his fellow countrymen will likely be pondering about what could have been had he not been sent off for his celebration earlier in the match. The result means Jordan move on to the quarter-finals where they will face off against Tajikistan on Friday. With numerous major stars like the Premier League'sSon Heung-min and Kaoru Mitoma still in the competition, though, winning the Asian Cup will be a tough task for anyone.