Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan has claimed the World Cup is “directed towards Argentina” after his side’s dramatic 3-2 defeat in the round of 16, accusing referee Francois Letexier and FIFA of favouring the reigning champions in Atlanta on 7 July.
Argentina came from 2-0 down to win a turbulent clash, setting up a quarter final against Colombia or Switzerland, but Hassan was furious at the way the game unfolded, claiming Egypt were wrongly denied a second goal following a VAR check and should have been awarded a penalty in stoppage time moments before Enzo Fernandez scored Argentina’s winner.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out and a second incident that should have been checked for a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR. A second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed,” Hassan said in his post match news conference. “There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome. Life is unfair. The world is unfair. But why isn’t there any fairness in sports? I’m not convinced by this outcome. The referee is unfair, God is sufficient for me and the best disposer of affairs. He’s wasting the effort of an entire nation. The cup is directed towards Argentina.”
Speaking separately to reporters, Hassan suggested FIFA had wanted Lionel Messi, who created one goal and scored another in the comeback, to remain in the tournament. “We looked better than the reigning champions, better in everything, but the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it. Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running. We were objecting to the selection of the referee because of the French situation, but everybody has to suffer at some point and we suffered. We have all seen the shirt pulled back by Alexis Mac Allister and not even a VAR check. We have been treated unfairly and it has been an injustice.”
Hassan also criticised the scheduling of the fixture, saying: “Whoever schedules these matches is someone who has never played football. You never schedule a football match at 12 noon.” He confirmed he had confronted Letexier after the final whistle, accusing the official of “having something to hide.” He added: “If somebody is trying to hide something, they often fail to hide it. When I am finished, I am not going to watch another game of this tournament.”
Egypt goalscorer Mostafa Ziko was similarly critical, telling Canadian broadcaster TSN through a translator: “It was not fair from the referee. He wasted all of our efforts with his decisions. We were leading 2-0 and we cannot do anything, it’s all up to God. We are so sorry to the people of Egypt. We wanted to make you all happy. It was not in the cards. It was the referee. Congratulations to Argentina on the second Cup.”
