The U20s went into the knockout stages of the U20 Asian Cup undefeated after a thrilling match against Kyrgyzstan, eventually winning second place. However, the storm didn't die down after the match, Kyrgyzstan defender Samatmalu was unhappy with the penalty and headbutted the referee, resulting in a red card.
There were a number of eye-opening moments in this matchup. First, when Kyrgyzstan kicked the ball out of bounds, the referee raised his flag for offside, and the Kyrgyz players were left sulking.
Immediately after that, our U20s launched a great counter-attacking game, and despite Efeldin's misplaced pass, Bekberdzhinov's clearance was accidentally scored in the own goal.
After the end of the match, Samatmalu walked towards the referee in an agitated manner and tried to argue. During the referee's patient explanation, he suddenly lost control of his emotions and slammed his head into the referee, who immediately showed him a red card and sent him off.
Such a scenario is rare in world football, and Samatmalu will undoubtedly face severe punishment for this move.
It's worth noting that a similar incident occurred in the Chinese Super League, where player Dorado intentionally knocked down referee Ma Ning and was eventually handed a 12-month ban and a 200,000 RMB fine.
