Once I’m back in my country and at home, I’ll never watch the World Cup again"

Egypt rages about refereeing, says the World Cup is ‘directed towards Argentina’

Argentina beat Egypt 3-2 in Atlanta in a game that was not without controversy. 

The Egyptian team was left angered by several refereeing decisions as it exited the World Cup, with star forward Mostafa Ziko saying the trophy is “directed towards Argentina” following Tuesday’s loss to the reigning champions, reports 'New York Times'.

Argentina came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in a turbulent clash in Atlanta.

But Egypt, including head coach Hossam Hassan, was deeply unhappy about the way the game unfolded. 

Hassan claimed his side was wrongly denied a second goal at 1-0, following a video assistant referee check, and that Egypt should have been awarded a penalty in stoppage time moments before Enzo Fernandez scored Argentina’s third. 

Hassan also said he will “never watch the World Cup again, because there’s no justice in this competition.”

In his post-match news conference, Hassan pointed the finger at referee Francois Letexier and the Argentina players, saying, 

“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out and a second (incident) that should have been checked for a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR. 

A second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed."

“There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome. 

“Life is unfair. The world is unfair. OK, but why isn’t there any fairness in sports? I’m not convinced by this outcome and by the way things unfolded in this match.”

Hassan also criticised the scheduling of the game, saying, 

“Whoever schedules these matches is someone who has never played football. 

You never schedule a football match at 12 noon.”

Hassan also maintained: “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition? Perhaps they wanted (Lionel) Messi to stay in the running? 

In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champions benefited from support at every level.

“I told the referee that what was happening wasn’t fair. It’s an undeserved victory for Argentina. Once I’m back in my country and at home, 

I’ll never watch the World Cup again, because there’s no justice in this competition.”

Egypt goalscorer Ziko told Canadian broadcaster TSN immediately after the game, via a translator: 

“It was not fair from the referee. It was really not fair, that was very clear. He wasted all of our efforts with his decisions. We were leading 2-0 and we cannot do anything, it’s all up to God.

“We are so sorry (to the people of Egypt). I am so sorry. We wanted to make you all happy. It was not in the cards. It was the referee. The cup is directed towards Argentina.”

The decision to disallow Egypt’s goal is incorrect. 

Attia’s challenge on Lisandro Martinez in the build-up to Ziko’s 67th-minute effort was normal contact and should be regarded as such, rather than considered a foul.

It was also almost 100 yards from goal, and Argentina had every opportunity to regroup and defend — no wonder Egypt felt aggrieved that the eventual goal was disallowed after a VAR review.

If we look at the incident, there was some contact, both foot-on-foot and a fleeting hold of the shirt (see the image below), but there was no offence worthy of a VAR call-back committed here. 

You can also see how far up the pitch it takes place, too.

Argentina also have plenty of players back to defend. It was an astonishing intervention and a massive overreach of the VAR’s role to correct only clear and obvious errors.

The VAR routinely checks the attacking phase of play before every goal, and here would have gone back to the turnover of possession.

For a goal to be chalked off, there needs to be a clear foul, which there wasn’t here. 

As a general rule of thumb, the longer the time and distance between a challenge and a goal, the more serious the alleged offence needs to be.

But there was no offence to speak of here, and nothing anywhere near the threshold for VAR to get involved.  By the same logic, Egypt’s penalty claim for an alleged foul on Mohamed Salah shortly before Argentina’s winning goal was rightly dismissed. 

There is some minor contact on his boot, below, but not enough to send Salah over. It was not a foul.

ends