Algeria’s Ramy Bensebaini attempted to deceive the referee into showing Ivory Coast winger Wilfried Zaha a red card in a quarter-final clash on Thursday.
The Elephants crashed out of the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt after a penalty shootout defeat to Algeria, following a tense 120 minutes of normal and extra time.
Sofiane Feghouli opened the scoring for Algeria before Jonathan Kodjia levelled for Ivory Coast on the hour mark and spot kicks were eventually needed after neither side could find an all-important winning goal.
The defeat will be particularly bitter for Crystal Palace star Zaha, who was very nearly the victim of blatant cheating after an innocuous challenge on Bensebaini.
The Algeria defender faked being hit to try and get Zaha sent off, moving the Ivory Coast attacker’s hand towards his face before falling to the floor theatrically.
The referee booked Zaha and Bensebaini got away with his deplorable actions, as Algeria progressed to the semi-finals and a showdown with Nigeria.
Check out the incredible incident below, via Twitter.
?? Algeria #LesVerts took matters into their own hands to book their place in the semifinal of #AFCON2019 ? pic.twitter.com/z7BZ0aODIv
— African Football Report (@AfricaFooty) July 11, 2019
Algerian defender trying to get Zaha red carded. #CIVALG pic.twitter.com/pIbW5BWw7s
— Slay Papa ?? a.k.a Mr. Skye ? (@TweetAtAustin) July 11, 2019
