Egypt certainly haven’t been quiet since being eliminated from the World Cup.
After being 2-0 up with 78 minutes on the clock, they suffered a spectacular collapse, losing the game 3-2 in regular time.
Denied a spectacular upset win over Lionel Messi and co, they haven’t taken it well. Manager Hossam Hassan, who once scored four in a UEFA Cup game against Celtic, has publicly accused FIFA of rigging the game.
It certainly takes the hysteria of Hearts’ reaction to the Scottish Premiership conclusion to a new level, but it comes from exactly the same place.
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Egypt’s World Cup meltdown is reminiscent of Hearts
At his post-match press conference, a furious Hassan said: “This match was clearly rigged, and the whole world witnessed it.”
He later claimed his team had been “cheated” and suffered an “injustice” in the round of sixteen tie.
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The first “injustice” he references is a challenge by Marawan Attia on Lisandro Martinez which led to the resulting goal by Ziko being chopped off.
Funnily enough, Hasseim Hassan, who played a central role in the goal and had an all-round excellent game in attack, was linked with Celtic just 24 hours prior.
The consensus among ex-referees and pundits is that it was a foul. Attia tugged Martinez’s shirt and made clear late contact with his foot.
Some have claimed that, because the foul was at the other end of the pitch, it shouldn’t have led to the goal being overturned.
Much like many of the complaints about the handball call for Celtic’s penalty against Motherwell, these complaints are valid for the rules, not the officials or decisions themselves.
At Fir Park, a player committed a handball with his arm at head height. On Tuesday in Atlanta, a goal was disallowed as the ball was won illegally. In both cases, the right decision was reached.
Egypt also seem convinced that Mohamed Salah was fouled in the build-up to Enzo Fernandez’s winner, despite the Liverpool forward’s pathetic dive all-but giving away that there was nothing in it.
Again, similarly to what we saw in Scotland in mid-May: the emotional circumstances of the match have been used to justify irrational hysterical takes on the refereeing.
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A tough few weeks for Hearts
Having led the race for 250 days, it’s fair to say that the defeat hit the Jambos hard. After the pitch invasion, they left the stadium still in their jerseys, without fulfilling their media duties.
Hearts then slated the referee’s decision to tend the game amid the invasion, only for this to backfire when VAR audio revealed that Derek McInnes had communicated a willingness to stop the game.
Bloom has also claimed that Hearts players were assaulted by Celtic fans, but these accusations remain unproven.
To make matters even worse, both manager McInnes and captain Lawrence Shankland have now left them for Rangers.
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