ATLANTA (AP) — What should have been a glorious celebration for Mohamed Salah and Egypt turned ugly in the end.
On the verge of confusing the defense world cup The champions, the Pharaohs, lost a two-goal lead late in the game and lost to Lionel Messi and Argentina. Round of 16 3-2 on tuesday.
The record of victory was decided in 2 minutes of stoppage time. cause a wild scene In front of the Egyptian bench. Goalkeeping coach Saffan Elsagil was shown a red card and had to physically restrain himself from chasing French referee François Letexier. Several yellow cards were handed out to players who were deeply dissatisfied with Argentina’s winning goal.
Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan raised his arms in the shape of an “X” (the soccer world’s signal against racism) and bluntly said he was a victim of the soccer establishment, which wanted Messi to win his second consecutive title and Argentina to reach the quarter-finals.
“Today we were wronged,” Hassan said. “We have been treated unfairly.”
In a tournament that already hurt Allegations that US President Donald Trump influenced FIFA Egypt has stepped up its criticism of soccer’s governing body in an effort to overturn a one-game suspension of an American player.
“I just want to say, we deserved to get this victory,” Hassan said. “But we’re going to leave with honor and pride regardless of this loss.”
Hassan is openly advocated support for the Palestinians During the tournament, video review showed that there was a foul on Egypt at the start of end-to-end play, causing upset as a potential second goal was overturned.
Mostafa Zico’s goal in the 67th minute gave Egypt a 2-0 lead, but there was still plenty of time for Argentina to pull off their first comeback in a while at the stadium, which is normally home to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
Cristian Romero gave the champions hope in the 79th minute. Messi scored the equalizing goal Just four minutes later, he hit the crossbar. Then, in the second minute of stoppage time, Enzo Fernandes scored Argentina’s goal. The play started on the opposite side of the field, with Salah attempting to dribble into the penalty area, losing the ball and falling face down on the grass.
Even retired NFL quarterback Tom Brady took note of the comeback, noting on social media that it was comparable to the Super Bowl victory over the Falcons on February 5, 2017, when the New England Patriots rallied from a 28-3 deficit late in the third quarter to win 34-28 in overtime.
“Yeah, that might make it more than 28-3.” Brady wrote to X.
Hassan didn’t care what Brady said. The coach was still furious that the video assistant referee did not feel the need to have L’Etexier consider what Egypt ruled a foul on Salah inside the area, denying what could have been a penalty kick in the dying seconds.
“The impact of this result goes far beyond the defeat itself, as there was no respect or fair play,” Hassan said. “There was no respect or fair play as the penalty was ruled out. The second ball, which should have been a penalty for us, was not even checked by VAR.”
When Salah led a breakthrough from the Egyptian zone that led to Zico’s goal, it looked like Africa’s underdog side, who had never won a World Cup before this tournament, would advance to the quarter-finals.
Egypt fell into a defensive shell trying to protect what looked like a secure lead, but Argentina made another great escape. La Albiceleste needed extra time Win against Cape Verde 3-2 This made it even closer for Messi and his friends.
It was excruciating for Hassan and his players.
“All I said to the referee is this is unfair,” the coach said. “I said maybe he’s carrying some hurt, maybe there’s something he wants to hide. People who have something to hide sometimes can’t hide what they’re hiding. That’s exactly how I felt during that conversation.”
Argentina faced Switzerland in the quarterfinals.
For Hassan, the tournament is over.
He’s not going to watch soccer anymore.
“I promise you, from the moment I get back, I won’t be following this FIFA World Cup game,” he said. “This is my internal struggle, my internal dissent, my own way of speaking out and standing up.
“I’m not going to watch a single game in this tournament.”
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Associated Press soccer writer James Robson contributed to this report.
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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
