Dissatisfied with the exit from the Asian Cup! Iraqi reporters tried to attack the coach after the game, and there was a new explanation for the controversial red card during the game
In the 1/8 finals of the Qatar Asian Cup, Jordan scored two goals in stoppage time, and finally defeated Iraq 3-2 and advanced to the top 8. The Iraqi team, which won all three games in the group stage and beat the Japanese team to win the first place in the group, had no choice but to go out. At the post-match press conference, some Iraqi journalists were unhappy with the team's last-minute killings and tried to attack the Spanish coach of the Iraqi team, Jesús Casas. In addition, striker Hussein, who scored Iraq's second goal in the game, was sent off for a second yellow card for excessive celebration, a decision that also sparked huge controversy......
Iraqi Football Federation: Regret this offensive behavior towards the coach
At the post-match press conference, some Iraqi journalists expressed their dissatisfaction with the Iraqi coach Spanish coach Casas, criticizing him for being keen to give interviews to the Spanish media in his home country during the Asian Cup, but not focusing on preparing for the game. When Coach Sass arrived at the press conference, many Iraqi journalists stood up and yelled at him and tried to attack him, but security personnel intervened in time to avoid the confrontation. The Iraqi journalists were then asked out of the room, leaving only a handful of foreign journalists to attend the post-match press conference.
Iraqi journalists scolded the manager
The Iraqi journalist who clashed with the coach was asked out of the room by security personnel
Kasas then expressed regret over the incident and explained that his previous interviews with many media outlets did not affect the performance of the Iraqi national team. He is also not worried about his position and reiterated his goal of leading Iraq to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Iraq coach Jesús Casas according to Visual China
After the incident, the Iraqi Football Federation said in an official social media post: "We are very angry about what happened to our national team coach Jesús Casas in his press conference after the match against Jordan, which made it even more painful after our undeserved elimination." The specialized Iraqi media have nothing to do with it. We deplore this blatant aggression and abhorrent recklessness against Coach Jesus Casas, and we have decided not to deal with these media members in the future, and we may take the necessary legal measures. We will try our best to maintain the image of the national team and move towards the goals we have set, with the full support of the government, the fans, the professional media, who are also unhappy with this offensive behaviour towards the coach. ”
The Iraqi team did not get a red card because they "ate grass to celebrate"?
Another controversial decision came in the 75th minute, when Iraqi striker Hussein scored Iraq's second goal to put Iraq 2-1 up, but he was sent off for overcelebrating and receiving a second yellow card.
Many foreign media and fans have discussed this, and there is an opinion that Hussein imitated the grazing celebration of Jordanian players, which is suspected of provocation.
Jordan celebrates a goal
Iraq's Hussein mimicked the Jordanian team's way of celebrating a goal
For Hussein's "excessive celebration", ESPN has a detailed interpretation. Hussein didn't take off his jersey when he celebrated, which is the most common way to celebrate dyeing yellow. Hussein also faces the touchline when he "grazes" and doesn't have any opposition players in his sight, so it's hard to determine how this is "unsportsmanlike". It is also important to note that none of the Jordanian players were offended by Hussein's parody celebration. Both Hussein and his teammates were puzzled by the referee's decision. Because Hussein was sent off for a second yellow card, VAR could not intervene.
Hussein was sent off with a red card according to Visual China
After that, Jordanian host Sounia Alzeghoul posted a video on social media to give a different explanation.
Video from the scene showed Hussein celebrating for a long time outside the pitch after scoring the goal, with the referee blowing the whistle at least twice to urge Hussein to return to the field. Hussein didn't seem to care, and continued to sit down to celebrate after returning to the pitch, and finally the referee blew the whistle again and showed a second yellow card. Judging from the video, there are doubts about whether the referee saw Hussein grazing, and Hussein returned to the field and just sat down when the referee blew the whistle.
Sounia Alzeghoul wrote: "The full video explains why Iraqi player Hussein was sent off. The penalty was 100% correct. The referee whistled twice to warn him to return to the pitch, but to no avail, he returned to the pitch and continued to celebrate, so the referee eventually gave him a red card (two yellows to one red)"
Edited by Cheng Li