Argentina are giving their fans their money's worth since they stepped into the business end of this year's edition of the FIFA World Cup, first with their dramatic 2-1 victory against Cape Verde, and now with an almost near-impossible comeback against Egypt in the round of 16.
But Egypt were not happy with how the game panned out for them in the end - losing a 2-0 margin within the span of 11 minutes, thanks to poor defending. However, the head coach of Egypt and their players chose to blame the referee and FIFA for the outcome and not their poor defending in the final quarter of the match.
After the match, Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan claimed that his side looked better than the defending world champions in all aspects of the game and that FIFA favours the South American nation and wants to keep their main man and the biggest draw of the World Cup - Lionel Messi - in the competition as long as possible. Hassan alleged that Argentina "received support at every level" of the match.
He also alleged, albeit without proof or saying clearly which decisions he found to favour Argentina, that the match was "influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it".
"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 said, as per ESPN.
"There seem to be pressures from the Argentina side on this outcome. We were objecting to the selection of the referee because of the French situation [Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup final], but everybody has to suffer at some point, and we suffered," he said, adding that Egypt was not granted "respect or fair play" in the match, and also alleged that a penalty was refused after what he claimed to be a foul on Mo Salah.
"We have not seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out [alleged foul on Mohamed Salah], it was not even checked by the VAR, and our second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed. We have all seen the shirt pulled back [by Mac Allister] and not even a VAR check. Life is unfair, normal life is unfair, so why is there no fairness in sports?"
The Egypt coach also said that that he is "not convinced by the outcome and the way things unfolded in the match".
"I want to put it in beautiful words and say hard luck, but we have been treated unfairly and it has been an injustice," he signed off.
Not only the coach, but also forward Mostafa Ziko lashed out against the referee after the match, alleging that the officiating was not fair enough. He claimed that Egypt faced "clear and obvious injustice" and that the "tournament is fixed".
It is not yet clear whether FIFA can showcause him or ask him to submit proofs of his serious allegations against the football governing body.
Speaking to the media after the match, Ziko said, "No fair, no fair, referee, no fair. Injustice, clear and obvious injustice. He is wasting the efforts of an entire country. From the start of the match, he was against us. It is not allowed for us to leave as 2-0 winners against Argentina. The tournament is fixed. God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs."
Regarding the fans back home, he said, "We wanted to make them happy today. We couldn't do that. But I swear it was out of our hands. It is in the referee's hands. The tournament is fixed, it is obvious anyway."
The match between Argentina and Egypt in Atlanta was an instant classic that will be talked about in the days to come. Egypt went ahead in the 15th minute through a strike by Yasser Ibrahim, and did well to hold on to the lead by the time the first half ended.
Messi himself did a blunder when he missed a penalty minutes after Egypt's first goal, dashing Argentina's chances to level affairs in the first half itself.
Then came the most controversial moment of the match - once Egypt thought they had doubled their lead with a goal by Mostafa Ziko, but the same was disallowed following a VAR review which showed a foul on Lisandro Martinez in the build-up to that goal.
However, the Pharaohs kept up the pressure, and in the 67th minute Ziko struck once again, thanks to brilliant counterattacking football by Mohamed Salah and Haissem Hassan.
In the 79th minute, Argetina finally responnded as Cristian Romero scored a freekick from a glorious pass by Messi.
Only four minutes later Messi himself scored the equaliser from outside the box, with the shot clipping the gloves of the goalkeeper before finding itself in the back of the net.
With the possibility of stretching this match into extra time, it was now Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea who sealed the deal for the defending champions. He headed a lose ball past the Egyptian goalkeeper in stoppage and secured the dramatic victory for his side. Argentina will now face Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Sunday, 8 July.
