ATLANTA — For Mohamed Salah and Egypt, what could have been a glorious celebration turned ugly at end.
On the cusp of upsetting the defending World Cup champions, the Pharaohs squandered a two-goal lead late in the game and lost to Lionel Messi and Argentina 3-2 in the round of 16 Wednesday.
The winning tally came two minutes into stoppage time and set off a wild scene in front of the Egyptian bench. A red card appeared to be shown to an irate staff member, who had to be physically restrained from going after French referee Francois Letexier. Two players on the field received yellow cards for griping vehemently about Argentina’s final goal.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan crossed his arms — the signal for calling out racial abuse — and stated flatly that his upstart squad was victimized by a soccer establishment that wanted Messi and Argentina to advance to the quarterfinals in their pursuit of a second straight title.
“We have been treated unfairly today,” Hassan said. “We have suffered injustice.”
In a tournament already marred by allegations that U.S. President Donald Trump influenced FIFA to overturn a one-game suspension for an American player, Egypt turned up the heat on soccer’s governing body.
“I just would like to say that we would have deserved to earn this win,” Hassan said, “but we are leaving with honour, with pride, regardless of this defeat.”
Hassan, who has been outspoken in his support of the Palestinians during the tournament, was upset that a potential second goal was overturned by a video review that showed a foul on Egypt at the start of an end-to-end play.
Egypt came back to take a 2-0 lead anyway on Mostafa Zico’s goal in the 67th minute, but there was still enough time for Argentina to pull off a comeback for the ages in the stadium that is normally the home of NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
Cristian Romero gave the champions hope in the 79th. Messi blasted in the typing goal off the crossbar just four minutes later. And Enzo Fernández won it for Argentina in the second minute of stoppage time — a play that began at the opposite end of the field with Salah being stripped of the ball as he tried to dribble into the penalty area, winding up face down on the turf.
Even retired NFL quarterback Tom Brady took note of the comeback, going on social media to point out this rivaled the one he pulled off against the Falcons in the 2017 Super Bowl, when the New England Patriots rallied from a 28-3 deficit late in the third quarter to win 34-28 in overtime.
Hassan couldn’t care less what Brady had to say. The coach was still seething that the video assisted referee didn’t feel a need for Letexier to review what Egypt felt was a foul in the penalty area, denying what could’ve been a shot at a tying kick in the waning seconds.
“The effect of this outcome goes way beyond the defeat itself because we haven’t seen neither respect nor fair play,” Hassan said. “There has not been respect or fair play because a penalty was ruled out. A second ball that should have been called as a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR.”
When Salah led a break out of the Egyptian zone that led to Zico’s goal, it appeared the African underdog — a team that had never won a World Cup game until this tournament — was headed to the quarterfinals.
Egypt fell into a defensive shell, looking to protect its seemingly safe lead, only to have Argentina pull off another wild escape. La Albiceleste needed extra time to beat Cape Verde 3-2 in the round of 32. This was an even closer call for Messi & Co.
It was all too much for Hassan and his players to bear.
“What I told the referee was just that this is unfair,” the coach said. “I was saying maybe he’s carrying a scar, maybe he has something to hide. Whoever has something to hide sometimes fails to hide what he is hiding and this was exactly what I felt during that conversation.”
Argentina moved on to face either Switzerland or Colombia in the quarterfinals.
For Hassan, the tournament is over.
He has no intention of watching any more soccer.
“I promise you, from the moment I go back, I’m not going to continue following the matches of this FIFA World Cup,” he said. “This is my internal fight, my internal objection, my own way of speaking up and standing up.
“I am not going to watch, not a single match of this tournament.”