Chinese football fans believe Ma Ning has ‘cards in his mind’ as fourth official at World Cup
Liaoning native spoke to referee Jalal Jayed about booking both managers at the end of the first-half of extra time in Germany v Paraguay game
Even with Paraguay securing a historic penalty shoot-out win over Germany in the last 32 of the World Cup, Chinese referee Ma Ning still managed to catch the attention of social media users as the fourth official of the match on Monday.
Officiating in his second World Cup after making his debut in Qatar four years ago, Ma was seen telling referee Jalal Jayed of Morocco to issue a pair of yellow cards towards the end of the first-half of extra time.
Jayed booked both managers, Julian Nagelsmann of Germany and Gustavo Alfaro of Paraguay. Five yellow cards were handed out during extra-time in what was a tense and physical game.
Chinese social media users called Ma the “true card master” after the moment went viral on Weibo.
“Having no cards in his hand but there are cards in his mind, that’s impressive,” one commenter said.
“Just imagine how fulfilling it would be if you worked so hard that you could showcase your skills on a global stage,” another said.