X-rated Australia shocker on horror night for Kusini Yengi with likely impact on Portsmouth plans

And that leaves the Pompey striker facing a three-match ban for the Socceroos, as his country’s hopes of making it to the 2026 finals were dealt an unlikely blow today.

Graham Arnold’s men fell to a 1-0 defeat on the Gold Coast, after a late Harry Souttar’s own goal decided their opening third-round qualifying clash.

That arrived after a throat-high challenge from the Blues hitman on Sayed Baqer in the 77th minute led to an inevitable dismissal.

There was no malice involved from Yengi as his boot was raised extremely high and caught Baqer, leading to the 25-year-old offering his apologies with a stud mark visible across Baqer’s throat.

That came at the end of a frustrating evening for the Socceroos striker on his first start since June at the Robina Stadium.

Yengi was an isolated figure and was largely left to feed on scraps as he led the line, though he did miss one great chance three minutes before the break when firing Craig Goodwin’s powerful cross wide from six yards with the goal gaping.

It means the striker and the Socceroos are now likely to face severe criticism as they went down to a first loss to Bahrain in seven outings.

Yengi will likely be suspended for three games, missing qualifiers against Indonesia next Tuesday and then a home clash against China and trip to Japan next month.

With Yengi not involved for his country, it’s unclear if he will be required to fly to Jakarta for the Indonesia fixture - ahead of returning for Pompey’s match with West Brom a week Sunday.

It does also open the possibility of the Adelaide man not having to make the gruelling trip to the other side of the world across the next international break.

How that pans out remains to be seen, though it does potentially mean the man who has made a huge impact in his time at Pompey returning to Championship duty fresh after the next international break.

There will be a two-week break between the home clash with Oxford on October 5 and the trip to London to take on QPR on October 19, as Championship football restarts.

Yengi’s start to the season has been impacted by a groin injury which kept him out of the first three games of the campaign.

The man who bagged 13 goals last term has returned with sub appearances against Middlesbrough and Sunderland.