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Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan has accused match officials of denying his team a place in the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals after their dramatic 3-2 defeat to Argentina, insisting the Pharaohs were “cheated” out of victory.
Egypt looked set to pull off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament after racing into a 2-0 lead against the defending champions before Argentina staged a remarkable late comeback.
Speaking after the match, an emotional Hassan claimed several controversial officiating decisions turned the game in Argentina’s favour.
“We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice,” Hassan said.
The Egyptian coach questioned the decision to disallow one of his side’s goals following a VAR review and also argued that his team should have been awarded a penalty in the build-up to Argentina’s winning goal.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out and was not even checked by VAR,” he added.
Hassan also suggested that officials may have been influenced by the desire to keep Lionel Messi and the defending champions in the competition.
“Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running. The world champions received support at every level,” he claimed.
Despite Messi missing a first-half penalty, the Argentine captain later scored the equaliser before Enzo Fernandez completed the comeback to send Argentina into the quarter-finals.
The Egypt coach also criticised the scheduling of the match, arguing that a noon kick-off gave players little time to properly prepare.
Disappointed by the outcome, Hassan said he had no interest in watching the remainder of the tournament.
“I am not going to continue following the matches of this World Cup. This is my own way of speaking up,” he said.
Argentina will now continue their title defence in the quarter-finals, while Egypt bow out after a spirited performance that ended in controversy.
Source: AFP
