Atlanta: Egypt’s World Cup campaign ended in frustration, with head coach Hossam Hassan questioning the fairness of the tournament after his side suffered a dramatic 3-2 defeat to defending champion Argentina in Atlanta.
Egypt appeared close to a historic upset after taking a 2-0 lead, but Argentina produced a late comeback, with Lionel Messi playing a decisive role by scoring one goal and setting up another before Enzo Fernandez completed the turnaround in stoppage time.
However, the match left the Egyptian camp furious. Hassan argued that several key decisions went against his team, including a disallowed goal following a video assistant referee (VAR) review and a penalty appeal that was not reviewed in the buildup to Argentina’s winning goal.
‘We looked better in everything, result was influenced’
The Egypt coach suggested the outcome was affected by factors beyond what happened on the pitch, even implying that there was a desire for Messi and Argentina to remain in the tournament, reports Xinhua.
“We looked better than the reigning champion – better in everything – but the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it,” Hassan said. “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.”
“In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champion received support at every level.”
Hassan was particularly frustrated by the refereeing of French official Francois Letexier and pointed to two major incidents that he felt changed the course of the game: Egypt’s disallowed goal and a late penalty appeal involving Alexis Mac Allister before Fernandez’s decisive strike.
‘Haven’t seen respect or fair play, treated unfairly’
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play,” Hassan said. “A penalty was ruled out. It was not even checked by the VAR, and our second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed. We have been treated unfairly, and it has been an injustice.”
He also criticised the scheduling of the match, arguing that the midday kickoff placed unnecessary demands on the players. The coach revealed that he confronted Letexier after the final whistle, telling the referee that he believed the decisions had been unfair.
“What I told the referee was, ‘This is unfair,'” Hassan said. “I said maybe he is carrying a scar or has something to hide.”
The referee had shown Hassan a yellow card for protesting the win and he crossed his arms in front of him, which in FIFA alerts the referee that a racist incident took place during the match. A member of the Egyptian support staff was also shown a red card for angrily protesting Argentina’s third goal.
“We have all seen the shirt pulled back (by Mac Allister), and not even a VAR check. Life is unfair, normal life is unfair, so why is there no fairness in sports?” asked Hassan.
Egyptian player says injustice was clear, match was fixed
Even the players expressed similar sentiments after the loss, with Egyptian player Mostafa Ziko claiming the match was fixed and that the Cup would be given to Argentina.
When Argentina scored the 92nd-minute goal, the Egyptian players’ anger intensified as their earlier protests went unheard. They said they deserved a penalty shot following a foul on Mohamed Salah and said that Argentina’s Alexis Mac Allister had tugged on their team’s Hamdy Fathy’s jersey.
“Not fair. The referee was not fair. The injustice was clear. We did a good job in the early stages of the match. There’s been an unfairness right from the start of the match,” a heartbroken Ziko told interviewers after the game.
“A 2-0 lead is enough to beat Argentina. It’s clear that this tournament has been fixed. God is sufficient for us. The Cup is being given to Argentina; we all know they win the World Cup, congratulations,’ he added.
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