Tlanta, July 8 (IANS) Egypt’s World Cup campaign ended in frustration, with head coach Hossam Hassan questioning the fairness of the tournament after his side suffered a dramatic 3-2 defeat to defending champion Argentina in Atlanta.

Egypt appeared close to a historic upset after taking a 2-0 lead, but Argentina produced a late comeback, with Lionel Messi playing a decisive role by scoring one goal and setting up another before Enzo Fernandez completed the turnaround in stoppage time.

However, the match left the Egyptian camp furious. Hassan argued that several key decisions went against his team, including a disallowed goal following a VAR review and a penalty appeal that was not reviewed in the buildup to Argentina’s winning goal.

The Egypt coach suggested the outcome was affected by factors beyond what happened on the pitch, even implying that there was a desire for Messi and Argentina to remain in the tournament, reports Xinhua.

“We looked better than the reigning champion – better in everything – but the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it,” Hassan said. “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.”

“In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champion received support at every level.”

Hassan was particularly frustrated by the refereeing of French official Francois Letexier and pointed to two major incidents that he felt changed the course of the game: Egypt’s disallowed goal and a late penalty appeal involving Alexis Mac Allister before Fernandez’s decisive strike.

“We haven’t seen respect or fair play,” Hassan said. “A penalty was ruled out. It was not even checked by the VAR, and our second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed. We have been treated unfairly and it has been an injustice.”

He also criticised the scheduling of the match, arguing that the midday kickoff placed unnecessary demands on the players. The coach revealed that he confronted Letexier after the final whistle, telling the referee that he believed the decisions had been unfair.

“What I told the referee was, ‘This is unfair,'” Hassan said. “I said maybe he is carrying a scar or has something to hide.”

–IANS

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