AFCON 2021 turns red: Round of 16 embellished with more than half a dozen red cards
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Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 26.01.22. | 15:03
Morocco vs Malawi has been the only match of the 1/8 finals that ended with 22 players on the pitch
This is not 'Who wants to be a millionaire", and you won't see a million for the correct answer, but let's play a little quiz nevertheless.
What do Sidney Obissa (Gabon), Alex Iwobi (Nigeria), Ibrahima Sory Conte (Guinea), Yusupha Njie (Gambia), Nadjim Abdou (Comoros), Vozinha and Patrick Andrade (Cape Verde) have in common?
Yes, that was an easy one - they were all sent off during the Round of 16 AFCON ties.
The last night's fixture between Morocco and Malawi was the first 1/8 finals game that didn't see a single red card shown. Before that, in the first five clashes, the referees showed as many as seven red cards, which is quite interesting and a bit awkward.
Cape Verde suffered a maximum of two players being sent off in their do-or-die against the favourites Senegal.
This amount of red cards is a consequence of a bit rigid officiating and lots of physical games we've witnessed in the last couple of days. Stakes are really high as the tournament is reaching the end, and players are doing their best to push their sides through the knockout phase. However, sometimes that combativeness takes its toll, and now, Gambia, for example, will have to fight Cameroon in the Round of 8 without their left-back Conte.
Shall we see some more red cards on Wednesday night as the last two Round of 16 fixtures are about to kick-off?
AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS - ROUND OF 16
Wednesday
