Red Card Frenzy Hits Senegal as Koulibaly Fires Up AFCON Quest

Negative Numbers on a Night of Achievement

A red-card curse kept stalking Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly, the Al Hilal defender, during his duty for his nation at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Koulibaly was sent off in the second half of Senegal's match against Benin in the Group Stage, round three, of the tournament held in Morocco.

During a shared ball, Koulibaly clipped the foot of a Benin player, prompting the referee to show a red card after video review.

The Senegal squad will miss the presence of the defender and the captain in the Round of 16 due to the top spot in Group, having already sealed progress.

This red card is Koulibaly's second this season, after also receiving a red in his club's match against Al Nassr last November.

According to the French site Stats Foot, this red card is only the second of his Senegal career, after a dismissal vs Burkina Faso in September 2017 during World Cup qualifiers.

Koulibaly is now the third most-capped Senegalese player with 100 international appearances, surpassed only by Idrissa Gueye (129) and Sadio Mane (124).

Punchline 1: If red cards were a hobby, Koulibaly would have a PhD by now.

Punchline 2: If VAR had a sense of humor, this would have been a comedy short.