Egypt were ‘cheated’ in World Cup loss to Argentina, coach Hassan says
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan claims his side was unfairly cheated in a 3-2 defeat to Argentina, citing disallowed goals and ignored VAR checks.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan launched a fierce post-match tirade, claiming his team was “cheated” out of a World Cup quarterfinal spot after Argentina came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in a dramatic last-16 match in Atlanta.
Hassan pointed to several controversial decisions. Egypt had a goal by Mostafa Zico disallowed via VAR while leading 1-0, for a foul earlier in the build-up. Later, with the score at 2-2, Hassan insisted Egypt should have been awarded a penalty for a shirt pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy, but VAR did not intervene.
“We have been cheated unfairly today; we have suffered injustice,” Hassan said. “There has not been respect or fair play.”
Argentina equalized through Lionel Messi, who had earlier missed a penalty, and won it via Enzo Fernandez. Hassan speculated that officials may have wanted to keep defending champions and superstars like Messi in the tournament.
He also complained about the noon kick-off time, just four days after both teams’ previous matches, calling the scheduling “whoever schedules those matches has never played football.”
Hassan said he would not watch any more World Cup matches in protest.
