Israel’s Saied Abu Farchi was shown a red card in the Nations League match against Austria because of his goal celebration.
Israel forward Saied Abu Farchi was sent off after scoring Israel’s equaliser in their Nations League match against Austria. Reports say his goal celebration caused the red card.
The 20-year-old, who plays for MLS team Colorado Rapids, scored with a header in the 55th minute of Thursday’s Group B game at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz.
Right after scoring, Abu Farchi celebrated by grabbing the corner flag and, according to Reuters, made a gun-firing gesture with it. This moment quickly spread on social media.
Bulgarian referee Martin Margaritov gave Abu Farchi a second yellow card for the celebration, which meant he was sent off. Videos show the striker looked confused about getting the red card.
This was a big moment for Israel, who had to play with 10 men after that and ended up losing 3-1. Late goals by Phillipp Mwene and Sasa Kalajdzic helped Austria take all the points.
After this opening loss, Israel is at the bottom of Group 3. They’ll be hoping to win against Ireland on Sunday before playing Kosovo on October 1.