Two red cards in little more than 20 minutes

Anguilla were already 5-0 behind when Scipio was introduced in the 69th minute of their Concacaf Nations League meeting with Antigua and Barbuda. Three minutes later, the substitute dispossessed Keon Greene and the Antigua and Barbuda player responded by grabbing Scipio’s exceptionally long dreadlocks. Greene was immediately shown a straight red card. According to an , the dismissal came just three minutes after Scipio had entered the game. Yahoo Sports

That might have been unusual enough on its own. In added time, however, Shalon Knight did almost exactly the same thing. Knight grabbed Scipio’s hair from behind and pulled him to the ground, leaving the referee to produce another straight red card. Antigua and Barbuda therefore finished with nine players but still protected the 5-0 scoreline. Yahoo Sports

The feature that made Scipio impossible to ignore

Scipio’s dreadlocks are not merely long by football standards. They reach his ankles and have to be secured around his body while he plays, according to . The 36-year-old had barely been on the field before they became the defining feature of an otherwise one-sided international. Yahoo Sports

The original 433 post quickly drew attention to the extraordinary sequence, but the result itself never changed. Antigua and Barbuda had already completed their scoring before Scipio entered, then survived the final stages two players short. The five goals decided the match; two hair pulls produced the images that travelled much further afterwards.

Read also: ‘I’m not confident’: Red Bull chief delivers troubling verdict on Verstappen’s car

Read also: Man City hit back at Premier League with explosive accusation