Rabat, Morocco – Following Egypt’s loss to Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations semi-final, Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan made some intriguing statements, as did the Senegalese coach after their team qualified for the final.
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Egypt lost to Senegal 1-0, with Sadio Mane scoring the winning goal in the 78th minute, in a match played Wednesday evening. The Pharaohs were thus eliminated from the tournament in the semi-finals.
Following the match, Hossam Hassan expressed his satisfaction with his players’ performance, emphasizing that the team had given their all throughout the tournament. He stated, “It was God’s will, and I am completely satisfied with the players; they worked hard and gave everything they had up to this point”.
The Egyptian national team coach pointed to the congested fixture schedule, explaining that the team only had two days of rest and played the match on the third day after returning from their trip, which affected their recovery time. He added, “I’m not making excuses, but the fixture congestion was immense, and I feel for the players”.
Hossam Hassan continued, “The Egyptian national team has a rich history of achievements and seven continental titles, and if we had a longer rest period of a day or two, the situation would be different.” He emphasized his dissatisfaction with the fairness of the match scheduling.
The Pharaohs’ coach affirmed that his players delivered a strong performance and lived up to expectations. He called for the principle of fairness to be applied in all tournaments, not just specific ones, highlighting the history and continental standing of the Egyptian national team.
Senegal coach’s comments after victory over Egypt
Senegal’s coach, Pape Thiaw, expressed his delight at qualifying for the final, while acknowledging the difficulty of the match against Egypt.
Thiaw said in his remarks after the match: “We are very happy to have reached the final. The match was not easy against a strong team like Egypt. But we had a great determination to win, which was evident during the match”.
He added: “I commend the performance of the Egyptian national team, and now we will focus on preparing for the final match, and we will do our best to win the title”.
Senegal is scheduled to meet Morocco in the final, while Egypt will face Nigeria in the third-place match.
