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That’s a very early bath! Jordanian footballer is sent off after FIVE SECONDS for a head-high tackle against Tajikistan…but his team won 2-0!
- Jordanian footballer Baker Kamal Kalbouneh saw red five seconds into the game
- He started for his country in a group stage match at the AFC U-20 Asian Cup on Thursday.
- The 19-year-old was sent off after a shocking head tackle on his opponent.
This is the moment Jordanian footballer Baker Kamal Kalbouneh was sent off for a shocking head-high tackle just five seconds into a game.
The 19-year-old striker was lining up for Jordan against Tajikistan in the AFC U-20 Asian Cup on Thursday, but his day couldn’t have gone worse.
As his team got going, Kalbouneh raced forward to get on the end of a cut ball from teammate Omar Al Osad, but in reality, he always looked like the second favourite.
In a moment of sheer madness, instead of connecting with the ball, Kalbouneh’s raised boot drove straight into the back of Mekhrubon Karimov’s head, sending the Tajikistan defender falling to the ground in agony.
Slow-motion replays show the Jordanian striker had both feet off the ground when his studs impacted the defender’s head and face.
Kalbouneh did not approach the ball and instead made a terror challenge with his studs at Karimov’s head.
With Karimov in visible pain, referee Yahya Almulla immediately gave Kalbouneh his marching orders, within seconds of the match starting.
Kalbouneh protested optimistically to the referee, but to no avail as his team faced the prospect of 89 minutes 55 seconds with just 10 men.
Somehow, Jordan won the match 2-0 despite being a short man the entire game.
Ali Ahmad Azaizeh made it 1-0 after just seven minutes before Sief Addeen Darwish doubled their lead midway through the first half.
It was the first match of the group stage of the competition, with Jordan against South Korea next Sunday, without the suspended Kalbouneh.
Kalbouneh’s quick dismissal was reminiscent of Vinnie Jones’ ‘reducer’ challenge on Liverpool’s Steve McMahon just minutes into the 1988 FA Cup final.
The Jordanian’s five-second red card was beaten by Lee Todd, who was sent off by Cross Farm Park Celtic from Sunday’s league game against local rivals Taunton East Reach after just two seconds in 2000.
Despite the early red card, Jordan won the game 2-0 thanks to two first-half goals.