Hossam Hassan, the coach of the Egyptian national team, publicly expressed his dissatisfaction, stating that his team was unfairly denied a chance at the World Cup quarter-finals after Argentina made an impressive comeback, managing to win 3-2 on Tuesday after previously trailing 2-0.
Accusations of Injustice
During a tense exchange with the referee in the Round of 16 match against Argentina, Hassan stated at a press conference that his team had been treated unjustly. He noted that his player Mostafa Zico had his goal disallowed when Egypt was leading 1-0. VAR intervened to detect a foul on Lisandro Martínez that occurred significantly earlier than that moment.
Although Zico later increased Egypt's lead by doubling the score, the defending champions managed to respond. Cristian Romero reduced the deficit, and Lionel Messi scored the equalizer from a penalty he successfully converted, making it the eighth goal of the tournament.
Additional Controversial Moments
The disputes did not end there. Before Enzo Fernández scored the winning goal for Argentina, the Egyptians felt they should have been awarded a penalty because Alexis Mac Allister pulled Hamdi Fathy. Hassan emphasized the lack of respect and fair play, stating: 'We did not see respect or fair play.'
The coach also criticized the work of VAR, noting that the penalty was disallowed and not even checked by the system, and the second goal was astonishingly annulled, even though it was obvious the player was caught having his shirt pulled.
Coach's Reaction and External Factors
Feeling such injustice, Hassan announced that he would no longer watch the tournament matches. He added that this was his way of speaking out. Earlier, after Hamdi Fathy's goal put Egypt in the lead, Argentina was awarded a penalty for a foul on Nicolás Tagliafico. However, Messi's attempt was saved by Mostafa Shobeir.
The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner was now unable to score in four of the eight penalties assigned to him at the World Cup, including two misses in this tournament. Hassan speculated that officials might be under pressure to keep one of the most famous players in the competition. He told BeIn Sports that perhaps they wanted the world champions to remain in the fight.
Furthermore, Hassan complained about the match schedule set for noon (1600 GMT), just four days after both teams won their group stage matches. He sharply commented on game planning, stating that whoever sets the schedule has never played football, as people rest or eat lunch at noon, not play football. He also questioned the players' meal times, asking if they shouldn't be eating at 7:30 AM. Hassan concluded that 'there were many things that could be questioned both on and off the field.'