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| 2010 FIFA World Cup |
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| Oman set dubious yellow card count |
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| Oman's Iman Al Hosni (L) fights for the ball |
KUALA LUMPUR: Oman set a dubious count in their recent slender 1-0 win over Thailand in their 2010 FIFA World Cup Asian Round 3 qualifying by collecting a whopping nine yellow cards and a red card.
Played last week at the Rajamangala Stadium in the Thai capital of Bangkok, the Omanis won the encounter thanks to a first minute strike by Ismail Al Ajmi, who also went on to be the only outfield player not to enter referee Mohsen Torky’s book. Goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi also managed to staye clean.
The statistics throw up one yellow card on an average for every 10 minutes of play for the Omanis.
In stark contrast, only one Thai player – midfielder Datsakorn Thonglao - was booked, loading the fair play stakes heavily in favour of the hosts.
The Omanis had only two yellow cards in the first half when Hassan Al Gheilani earned the referee’s wrath in the 16th minute before Emad Al Hosni joined him in the 23rd minute.
However, the second half turned ugly and soon yellow cards were raining like confetti.
Eight minutes into the restart, Mohamed Al Balushi started the slide before Fawzi Doorbeen joined him three minutes later in the yellow card movement.
Ahmed Al Mahaijri (64) and Talal Al Farsi (70) picked up what was the favourite card by now before things touched rock bottom when Ahmed Al Noobi, Khalifa Al Naufli and Ibrahim Al Mukhani were all booked in the 78th minute.
It was left to Al Farsi to round off the disappointing show with another yellow and a subsequent red in stoppage time, leaving only the scorer Al Ajmi and goalkeeper Al Habsi untainted. Substitute Mohamed Al Lawati played for the last seven minutes and thankfully stayed out of trouble.
Oman, who are third in Group 2 behind leaders Bahrain and Japan, next play the Japanese away at the Nissan Stadium on June 2 without the services of Al Farsi, Ahmed Al Mahaijiri and Khalifa Al Naufli, both of whom picked up yellow cards in their 1-0 loss to Bahrain on Match Day 1.
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