Connect with us

AFCON

Egypt’s Coach, Queiroz cries foul, claiming they were denied a penalty against Nigeria

Published

on

Egypt’s coach, Carlos Queiroz is reportedly angry at referee Bakary Gassama  performance in his team’s 1-0 loss to the Super Eagles.

His grouse was that his team deserved a penalty kick award in the hectic and dicey second half of the game.

While failing to create many chances, Egypt had a penalty shout after Zizo was brought down inside the Nigerian penalty box by Moses Simon; however, the referee whistled for a foul on the Zamalek winger instead.

Despite the pressure of the Egyptian players, referee Bakary Gassama awarded the foul to Nigeria, with the VAR assuring there is no need for him to go back to see the incident.

Carlos Queiroz felt being robbed a huge chance to get something out of the game, insisting his side were denied a clear penalty, that even his grandmother would have awarded.

“In the second half, there was a very clear penalty for us that the referee didn’t award and the VAR did not intervene,” Queiroz was reported to have said by AfricaFootUnited.

Advertisement

“Maybe at that time, the VAR was not working.

“There was clearly a penalty. It wasn’t our day, it wasn’t also a good day for the refereeing. Even my grandmother would have awarded it a penalty.

“It is a disaster because there are VAR referees. It is unacceptable. Watch the incident yourself. It’s unbelievable that with all these referees, no one noticed the penalty,” he added.

The game marked Egypt’s first AFCON opener defeat since 2002 when they lost to Senegal 1-0 and their first group-stage defeat when they fell against Algeria in Tunisia.

Egypt now need to beat their remaining Group D opponents, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau, in order to book their spot in the round of 16.

Advertisement

The Pharaohs fell to a 1-0 defeat against Nigeria, thanks to a goal from Kelechi Iheanacho late in the first-half. The Super Eagles were by far the more dangerous side for the entirety of the encounter and could’ve increased the gap if it wasn’t for Mohamed El-Shennawy’s heroic performance.

The game marked Egypt’s first AFCON opener defeat since 2002 when they lost to Senegal 1-0 and their first group-stage defeat when they fell against Algeria in Tunisia.

Egypt now need to beat their remaining Group D opponents, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau, in order to book their spot in the round of 16.

“We only started playing in the second-half. There’s no clear reason behind this failure and defeat against Nigeria.

Advertisement

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

Continue Reading
Advertisement