BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — A player was sent off at the Women’s European Championship for pulling an opponent’s hair, six days after a similar incident during the Club World Cup final.
The video assistant referee spotted Germany midfielder Kathrin Hendrich yanking the ponytail of France captain Griedge Mbock as a free kick was floated into the area.
With less than 13 minutes played, Hendrich was shown a red card and moments later Grace Geyoro converted the resulting penalty to give France a 1-0 lead in Saturday’s quarterfinal.
It was a somewhat unusual red card but the second such incident in the space of less than a week.
Paris Saint-Germain midfielder João Neves was sent off for pulling down Marc Cucurella by his hair, towards the end of Chelsea’s 3-0 victory in the trophy match of the Club World Cup last Sunday.
Germany overcame going a player and a goal down early on to equalize 10 minutes later.
A phenomenally resilient display from the record eight-time European Champion then saw it hold out for extra time and a penalty shootout, which it won 6-5 — thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger — to book a semifinal against World Cup winner Spain on Wednesday.
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The Associated Press
