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Abu Dhabi: After the first round matches in the Gulf Cup, it is the high number of warnings and suspensions rather than injuries that will be nagging the team coaches.
Except Marcos Paqueta of Saudi Arabia, all the other seven coaches in the Gulf Cup Championship face this problem as the referees have flashed the yellow card 16 times and the red card four times in the first four matches.
That makes it an average of four yellow and one red card per match and this certainly puts the team coaches and the affected players in a tight spot.
After Bahrain were reduced to nine men, Saudi Arabia probably did not feel the need to resort to tough tackling and hence start the second round with a clean slate.
Bahrain are the most affected with two players red-carded and another two carrying a yellow into today's second round. Among the others, hosts UAE are next with one red and three yellows, Kuwait (one red and two yellows), Iraq (4 yellows), Qatar (2 yellows) and Oman (one yellow).
The players suspended are Hilal Saeed of the UAE, Mesaed Neda of Kuwait and Mohammad S. Adnan and Mohammad Hussain of Bahrain.
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