This is what we call a well-deserved red card. In the 55th minute of this U17 World Cup semi-final between France and Mali, Malian defender Souleymane Sanogo received a red card for a very nasty foul on French left-back Aymen Sadi.
While the Bleuets were behind (1-0, 52nd) and went on a counter-attack on the left side, the right defender of Mali violently collided with his counterpart in the left lane on the French side Aymen Sadi. The young man from Valenciennes remained on the ground writhing in pain, while the referee whistled a simple free kick at 30 m, off-center on the left side for Jean-Luc Vannuchi’s players.
A red card and an equalizer
The referee was quickly called by the VAR, the first slow motions shown on television are impressive. Sanogo’s right sole presses involuntarily but very hard on the inside of Sadi’s right knee. Images all the stronger as the Frenchman’s leg remained stuck in the ground. We still wonder now how the Valenciennes player was able to resume the game straight away. It still took several tens of seconds of viewing for the match referee to show the red card, synonymous with exclusion.
All’s well that ends well for the France team. This twist of fate in their favor allowed them to come back to the score on the free kick which followed with the equalization of Yvann Titi’s header on a perfect cross from Ismaël Bouneb (56th).
Taking advantage of their numerical superiority, the Bleuets controlled the game and took care not to expose themselves too much. They took the lead in the 69th minute on a very nice free kick from Valencia midfielder Ismail Bouneb.
