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Kamil Glik (r.) Was hit early, and Fernández was given red
Photo: PIOTR KUCZA / imago images / Newspix
Ricard Fernández, known as »Cucu«, probably made football history with a foul.
In the World Cup qualifier between Andorra and Poland, the host's attacker saw the red card after just 21 seconds.
What happened?
After the whistle, the Andorra team hit the ball far forward.
But before Fernández reached him, the 22-year-old had already hit his opponent Kamil Glik with his elbow in the face.
Ten seconds were played.
Referee John Beaton judged the 22-year-old's blow to be intent and dismissed him.
When Fernández looked in disbelief at the eligible red card, just 21 seconds had been played.
Andorra, which had only two wins against San Marino as the penultimate in Group I, had to complete the remaining 89 minutes with a minority.
So the already favored Poles had an easy game and won 4: 1 (3: 1).
Robert Lewandowski (5th and 73rd minute), Kamil Jozwiak (11th) and Arkadiusz Milik (45th + 2) scored for the guests, Marc Vales scored the consolation goal for Andorra (45th).
Poland has at least secured the playoff place in the group.
Faster than Batista and Al Hooti
For Fernández, there remains an entry in the history books: There is no known game in a World Cup finals or World Cup qualification in which a player flew off the field faster.
Uruguay's José Batista saw the red card after 52 seconds in the group game of the 1986 World Cup finals against Scotland.
In qualifying matches, Rashed Al Hooti is considered a record holder.
He was sent off after 39 seconds at the 2011 encounter between Iran and Bahrain.
However, there is no record reference officially confirmed by Fifa.
What is certain, however, is that he would have set a record in the Bundesliga with this appearance: Youssef Mohamad from Cologne is a confirmed record holder there.
On August 21, 2010, he flew 3-1 against Kaiserslautern after just 93 seconds.
mfu
