Guangzhou Evergrande were forced to start their Asian Champions League game against the Central Coast Mariners one man short, after a player was sent from the pitch because he was wearing non-sanctioned socks.
Guangzhou forward Gao Lin's red socks had a rogue white strip and the referee asked him to change them, and then started the game while he was carrying out the the referee's orders. Despite the distraction, Guangzhou went on to beat the Mariners 2-1 in Gosford.
A sock-related incident is unfathomable when talking about Guangzhou, a team worth more than the entire A-League combined. Their budget surpassed the Mariners by $38 million, and the entire Central Coast squad earns roughly a fifth of the annual salary of Guangzhou midfielder Dario Conca.
The match was a last 16 fixture of the Asian Champions League, and the smallest club in the tournament now need to overcome the loss of two away goals in next week's return leg.
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