‘Tournament is fixed’: Egypt star claims ‘clear and obvious injustice’ after Argentina defeat

Argentina’s Lionel Messi fights for the ball with Egypt’s Mostafa Zico. (AP photo) Egypt forward Mostafa Ziko launched a scathing attack on match officials after his side’s heartbreaking 3-2 defeat by defending champions Argentina in the last 16 of the World Cup, claiming the referee was unfair, claiming the “tournament is fixed”.Egypt appeared on course for one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history after taking a 2-0 lead in the 67th minute. But Argentina produced a stunning late comeback as Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez scored in the space of 13 minutes to send the three-time world champions through to the quarter-finals.One of the defining moments of the match came early in the second half when Ziko found the net, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR review. The officials ruled that the Egyptian forward had committed a foul in the play-off. Although Ziko later got on the scoresheet, the disallowed attempt turned out to be the key moment of the match.An emotional Ziko, who spoke to the announcer after the final whistle, questioned the proceedings and suggested the result was influenced by the referees.“No fair, no fair, referee, no fair. Injustice, plain and obvious injustice. Wastes the efforts of the whole country. He was against us from the start of the match. We are not allowed to walk away 2-0 winners against Argentina. The tournament is fixed. God is sufficient for us and He is the best disposer of things.”The Egypt striker also apologized to fans and insisted the players had done everything they could.“We wanted to make them happy today. We didn’t do that. But I swear it’s out of our hands. It’s in the referee’s hands. The tournament is fixed, that’s for sure anyway.”Egypt got off to a dream start when Yasser Ibrahim headed home from Marwan Attia’s corner in the 15th minute. Argentina had an immediate opportunity to respond after Nicolas Tagliafico won the penalty, but goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir pulled off an excellent save to deny Messi from the spot.Shobeir continued to frustrate the defending champions by keeping out efforts from Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez, while Messi also hit the crossbar with a free-kick as Egypt took a 1-0 advantage into the break.The Pharaohs believed they had doubled their lead shortly after the restart through Ziko, but VAR intervened and disallowed the goal. However, Egypt responded positively and eventually made it 2-0 in the 67th minute when Mohamed Salah and Haissem Hassan combined to set up Ziko for a clinical finish.Argentina’s reaction was swift. Romero headed home Messi’s free-kick in the 79th minute before Messi equalized four minutes later with a powerful strike that went under the crossbar after brushing the keeper’s gloves.With extra-time looming, Enzo Fernandez completed a dramatic stoppage-time turnaround when he fired a low finish into the bottom corner after latching on to a loose ball on the edge of the box.With a 3-2 victory, Argentina secured a place in the quarter-finals, where they will face the winners of the Round of 16 between Switzerland and Colombia on July 8.