Egypt ‘cheated’ to keep Messi and Argentina in World Cup, says furious coach Hassan
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Egypt ‘cheated’ to keep Messi and Argentina in World Cup, says furious coach Hassan")
Egypt ‘cheated’ to keep Messi and Argentina in World Cup, says coach Hassan Photograph: (AFP)
Egypt boss Hossam Hassan launches an explosive attack on World Cup officiating, claiming his team was "cheated" to keep Lionel Messi and defending champions Argentina in the tournament after a controversial 3-2 defeat.
Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan was visibly furious with the match referee and the game’s outcome, which saw Lionel Messi’s Argentina qualify for the World Cup quarterfinal. Hassan said his team was ‘cheated’ out of a place in the tournament’s Last 8 after Messi inspired the defending champions to a stunning comeback despite being down 0-2 until the 79th minute. Hassan came down hard on the refereeing, which also saw several decisions favouring Argentina and eventually helping them score three goals in just 14 minutes to knock Egypt out of the World Cup.
"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.
Mostafa Ziko was among the two goalscorers for Egypt, with his earlier attempt being disallowed following VAR’s intervention due to a foul on Lisandro Martínez in the lead-up to that goal. However, his second shot on the target put Egypt on the brink of World Cup history, only for Messi’s Argentina to shock them with a 3-2 win on Tuesday (Jul 7).
Also read| ‘The Game is Rigged!’ – Egypt’s Ziko blasts match referee after dramatic Argentina comeback
Even though Messi failed to score a penalty earlier in the game -- missing out for the second straight time -- he assisted Cristian Romero’s header before equalising late in the 83rd minute.
However, another controversy erupted after Egypt’s camp felt the referee purposely missed out on awarding them a penalty (for a pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy) in stoppage time (91st minute), just before Enzo Fernández scored the winning goal for the South Americans.
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Egypt ‘cheated’ to keep Messi and Argentina in World Cup, says coach Hassan Photograph: (AFP)
"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."
Disappointed with the whole episode and how the game unfolded for his team, Hassan said he would not watch any more matches of the tournament, such was the injustice he felt.
"I am not going to continue following the matches of this World Cup, watching the matches of this World Cup," he added. “This is my own way of speaking up.”
FIFA wants to keep Messi, Argentina in World Cup
Although Messi has headlines for all the right reasons in this edition by breaking multiple records with each passing game, Hassan speculated that the officials had been put under pressure to keep one of the biggest names in the competition.
"Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running," he said in a chat with BeIn Sports. "In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champions received support at every level."
