Egypt coach Hossam Hassan criticised the referee and VAR decisions after his side suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the World Cup, saying his team was “cheated” and denied a fair result.
Egypt were leading 2-0 with just 11 minutes left in their last-16 clash against the defending champions, but Argentina produced a late comeback to win the match and move into the quarter-finals.
Hassan said he was unhappy with several decisions made during the game, including Egypt’s disallowed goal and a late penalty appeal that was not given.
“I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice,” Hassan said in an explosive press conference after the match.
Hassan Questions Referee, VAR Decisions
Hassan pointed to
two major incidents that he felt went against Egypt. Egypt’s second goal, scored by Mostafa Ziko, was ruled out after a VAR review found a foul in the build-up.
The Egyptian team also appealed for a penalty late in the game after Hamdy Fathy appeared to be pulled inside the box. Moments later, Argentina went up the other end and scored the winning goal through Enzo Fernandez.
“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.
He also suggested that pressure from Argentina players may have influenced the referee.
“There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome,” he said.
Hassan added that he would not continue watching the tournament after Egypt’s exit. “I’m going home and won’t be watching any more games from the tournament,” he said.
The Egypt coach also criticised the scheduling of the match, saying, “Whoever schedules these matches is someone who has never played football. You never schedule a football match at 12 noon.”
‘World Cup Directed Towards Argentina”
Egypt forward Mostafa Ziko, who scored during the match, also expressed his frustration over the refereeing decisions.
“It was not fair from the referee. It was really not fair, that was very clear. He wasted all of our efforts with his decisons. We were leading 2-0 and we cannot do anything, it’s all up to God,” Ziko said after the match.
Ziko apologised to Egyptian fans and said the team wanted to create history by reaching the quarter-finals. “We are so sorry (to the people of Egypt). I am so sorry. We wanted to make you all happy. It was not in the cards. It was the referee. The cup is directed towards Argentina,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
