Hossam Hassan, the head coach of the Egypt national football team, made a controversial statement following Egypt's defeat to Argentina in the Round of 16 of the World Cup. The match is remembered not only for Argentina's spectacular comeback but also for the intense protests from the Egyptians regarding the referee's decisions and VAR.

Hossam Hassan stated after the match that his team was 'unjustly' eliminated from the World Cup. In the press conference, he said his players were victims of decisions that were neither fair nor respectful to the competition. Hassan even announced that he would boycott the remaining World Cup matches in protest of these events.

Egypt's main objections revolve around two incidents; first, a goal scored by Mostafa Ziko in the second half was disallowed after a VAR review due to a foul that occurred moments before the goal. The second incident relates to moments before Argentina's winning goal, where the Egyptians believe Alexis Mac Allister committed a penalty foul on Hamdi Fathy, but the referee not only did not award a penalty but VAR also did not review the incident.

Hossam Hassan continued his criticisms by targeting FIFA and its president, claiming that the purpose of these decisions might have been to preserve Argentina, the defending champion, in the tournament. He even said, 'Maybe they wanted Messi to stay in the World Cup.'

The Egyptian coach emphasized that if VAR was designed to prevent refereeing mistakes, why did it not intervene in the most critical moments of the match? According to him, the television images clearly showed the pulling of the Egyptian player's shirt, but no review was conducted.

On the other hand, Lionel Scaloni, the head coach of Argentina, did not engage in this controversy and did not comment on Egypt's protests. He only stated that he believed from the beginning that his team had the ability to come back in the game and that Argentina's performance had improved compared to the previous match.

Despite these protests, the match result did not change, and Argentina turned a stunning comeback from a 2-0 defeat to a 3-2 victory, advancing to the quarter-finals; however, for the Egyptians, the story of this game ends with a big question: Did the refereeing decisions change the outcome of this match?

Source: Gulf Times

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