Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan says match officials cost his team a place in the World Cup quarter-finals, after Argentina came from two goals down to win 3-2 on Tuesday.
At a heated post-match press conference, Hassan didn’t hold back. “I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice,” he said.
The turning point came with Egypt leading 1-0, when Mostafa Zico had a goal ruled out. VAR stepped in and officials decided Lisandro Martinez had been fouled well before the goal. Egypt shook it off Zico scored again soon after, putting the Pharaohs on the verge of their first-ever World Cup quarter-final.
Argentina had other ideas. Cristian Romero got one back, then Lionel Messi who’d already missed a first-half penalty leveled the score with his eighth goal of the tournament. Enzo Fernandez then scored the winner, but not before another flashpoint: Egypt say they should’ve had a penalty when Alexis Mac Allister allegedly pulled Hamdy Fathy’s shirt inside the box.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play,” Hassan said. “A penalty was ruled out, was not even checked by VAR. A second goal was remarkably disallowed. There has not even been a VAR check when we have all seen the image of the shirt being pulled back.”
Hassan was so frustrated by the decisions that he says he’s done watching the tournament. “I am not going to continue following the matches of this World Cup, watching the matches of this World Cup,” he said. “This is my own way of speaking up.”
Egypt had taken the lead through a Yasser Ibrahim header before Argentina were handed a penalty of their own, after Nicolas Tagliafico was fouled. Messi’s spot kick was saved by Mostafa Shobeir his fourth missed non-shootout penalty in eight World Cup attempts, and his second miss of this tournament alone.
Speaking to BeIn Sports, Hassan went further, suggesting the officiating may have been influenced by more than what happened on the pitch. “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running,” he said. “In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champions received support at every level.”
He also took aim at the scheduling, with the match kicking off at noon local time (1600 GMT) just four days after both sides played their Round of 32 fixtures. “Whoever schedules those matches has never played football. You never schedule a game for 12pm. At noon you go for a walk or to eat brunch, you do not go to play football. When are the players supposed to eat? At 7.30am? There have been a lot of things to be questioned on and off the pitch.”
(With inputs from AFP)
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