A SOBBING Mostafa Zico moaned that Egypt’s World Cup knockout defeat to Argentina was “rigged” – with national team boss Hossam Hassan also piling in on referee Francois Letexier.
Pharoahs stars felt hard done by over a series of refereeing decisions as the reigning world champions came from two goals down to win 3-2 in Atlanta.
Zico was the victim of one call when his goal, which finished off an excellent team move, was chalked off by VAR for a dubious foul in the build-up.
Egypt also felt they had a strong claim for a penalty when Mohamed Salah was brought down in the box moments before Enzo Fernandez headed home in stoppage time to decide Tuesday’s last-16 clash.
That sparked a furious reaction from the Egyptian bench, with one staff member shown a red card.
And an emotional Zico could not hold his tongue in the raw moments after the final whistle.
He said: “The referee wasn’t good, he was unfair. His injustice was clear. He persecuted us from the start of the match. He doesn’t want us to win.
“It was a rigged game. It wasn’t our fault. That referee… it seems like this match was rigged.
“We were winning 2-0, and he kept coming at us.
“Congratulations to Argentina on another World Cup, it seems.”
Zico did end up getting on the scoresheet by finishing off a rapid counter-attack to make it 2-0 in the 67th minute.
Argentina then completed their stunning fightback through Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Fernandez.
But Zico was not in the mood to give any credit to the opposition, saying: “If they had won solely on their own merits it would have been very different for us.”
In a stunning post-match press conference, Egypt boss Hassan echoed his striker’s words.
He ranted: “We haven’t seen respect or fair play. 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.
“The referee is unfair, God is sufficient for me and the best disposer of affairs. He’s wasting the effort of an entire nation. The cup is directed towards Argentina.”
He added: “This was clearly a rigged match and the whole world saw it.
“And I want to say one more thing: if they want Argentina to win this World Cup so badly why go to the bother of calling everyone else to come and play in it?”
