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In the defeat to hosts Thailand in their Group G clash on Tuesday, Mabkhout received a yellow card and under the rule, players who receive two yellow cards will be suspended for the next match. Earlier, Mabkhout was also booked during their 2-1 win over Malaysia.
The striker will be suspended in the trip to Hanoi’s My Dinh Stadium on November 14. Without the 1990-born player, UAE will find it hard to break the unbeaten Vietnam, who are in second place in Group G after two consecutive wins over Malaysia and Indonesia.
Mabkhout’s suspension is a huge loss for UAE as he is the best striker of the West Asian side in the World Cup Qualifiers. He alone scored six of the UAE’s total of eight goals from the beginning of the Asian second qualifying round.
Mabkhout is also the number one striker in the history of the UAE team with 55 goals. In the UAE's defeat against Thailand, he scored the only goal for his side. The UAE lost 1-2 and fell to 3rd place in Group G.
Mabkhout had scored against Vietnam in 2013 in the UAE's 5-0 victory against the Southeast Asian team in the 2015 Asian Cup Qualifiers.
