Football will always produce debatable calls but, considering this has been the first AFC Asian Cup where VAR has been employed for the entirety of the tournament, things have been relatively smooth sailing thus far.
All that has now changed after a huge moment of controversy changed the complexion of Monday’s round of 16 clash between Iraq and Jordan — which ultimately finished a 3-2 win to the latter as they produced a miraculous comeback with two goals deep in injury-time.
The sheer drama and excitement that was served up will however certainly be overshadowed, and it will not be surprising if Iraq are crying foul in days and weeks to follow.
In what proved to be a bruising encounter, things were originally as fair spirited as they could be and it was Jordan who would take the lead right on the stroke of halftime through a Yazan Al-Naimat effort.
What followed initially looked like it would be looked back as one of the more memorable goal celebrations at the Asian Cup, as Al-Naimat ran off the field of play before gathering with four other teammates — sitting down cross-legged behind the substitutes benches while mimicking the action of eating with one’s hands, as is common practice in many parts of Asia.
Saad Natiq would equalise for Iraq in the 68th minute, and then, the frequent figure of controversy would rear its ugly head eight minutes later.
With a clinical finish, Aymen Hussein would find the bottom corner to put the Iraqis ahead before wheeling away to the vicinity of the corner flag — where he would perform the exact same celebration the opposition had done in the first half.
It is easy to assume he did so as a riposte to Jordan but that is purely down to interpretation.
Hussein did not remove his jersey — the most common act that incurs a yellow card for “excessive celebration” — nor did he leave the field of play, which is in fact what the Jordan players did.
He was also facing the touchline but in a position of the field where he would not have had any opponents in his line of sight, so it is also difficult to see how it might have been “unsportsmanlike conduct” — which would have also warranted a booking.
Thus, it is understandable why Hussein and the rest of the Iraq camp looked incredulous when referee Alireza Faghani proceeded to flash a yellow at him which, given he had already been booked, meant he was sent off.
It must also be noted that none of the Jordan team were particularly offended by Hussein’s replication of their celebration.
Faghani is a well-respected official widely regarded as one of Asia’s best referees, with over two decades of experience including the 2018 and 2022 editions of the FIFA World Cup.
He would have gone through a thorough thought process before coming to his decision but it is one that will be debatable given it seems to stem from a matter of interpretation, which is why controversy has arisen.
Given it also was a second yellow and not a straight red card, that meant that VAR were unable to intervene and recommend him a review should they have deemed his decision a potential clear and obvious error.
It set the stage for a grandstand finish with Jordan now holding a numerical advantage.
Despite Iraq’s valiant efforts, they would concede an equaliser to Yazan Al-Arab in the fifth minute of injury-time and, just when it looked like they might really struggle in extra time, the additional 30 minutes were not even required as they would be left stunned by Nizar Al-Rashdan‘s winner in the 97th minute.
Jordan deserve praise for the spirit they showed once they were in the ascendancy but the contest would certainly have been far different had it been 11 against 11, especially given how well Hussein was playing even in the defensive aspect of the game.
While the Jordanians are marching on to a quarterfinal meeting with Tajikistan, Iraq are heading home.
And they will doing so plagued by a sense of injustice as the current edition of the Asian Cup had its first major moment of controversy.
What a massive one it proved to be.
