UAE Soccer Player May Be Punished For "Disrespectful"-But-Also-Awesome Backheel Penalty Kick

On Sunday, Theyab Awana, a 21-year-old winger with the United Arab Emirates national team, scored on a penalty kick in a friendly against Lebanon. Only he did it off of a 180 and using his heel. UAE was up 5-2 at the time, and they ultimately won 7-2, so the stakes weren't very high for either team. Does this make what he did more or less disrespectful?

His team says the former, and Awana may now have to deal with team-enforced sanctions for his play:

UAE manager Esmaeel Rashed told The National newspaper the move was "disrespectful" and that Awana could be punished. A meeting is set for late Tuesday in which the team will decide what action to take against Awana, including a possible suspension or fine.

"This should have not happened," Rashed told the newspaper. "I think what happened is disrespectful. We cannot accept anyone in our team who does not respect the opponent."

UAE coach Srecko Katanec took Awana out of the game soon after the PK and said he was "unhappy" with his winger's decision, which may mark one of the few times in soccer history that a coach was "unhappy" with a goal. But no, showboating is not usually rewarded when you're up three goals against the 177th-ranked team in the world. He'd have been better off Carli Lloyding it.

"In the end, he's young, but he has to know what are the good things and the bad things," Katanec told . "I think he will learn from this moment."

UAE Player in Trouble for Backheeled Penalty [AP] UAE coach Srecko Katanec slams Theyab Awana for backheel penalty [Goal.com]