{"id":628145,"date":"2018-06-26T04:22:13","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T04:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2018\/06\/26\/egypt-finishes-bottom-of-group-at-2018-world-cup\/"},"modified":"2018-06-26T04:22:13","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T04:22:13","slug":"egypt-finishes-bottom-of-group-at-2018-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2018\/06\/26\/egypt-finishes-bottom-of-group-at-2018-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt finishes bottom of group at 2018 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Topping the foreign press\u2019 coverage of Egypt this morning is the Pharaohs\u2019 last-minute loss to Saudi Arabia<\/strong>, which scored a \u201clast-gasp\u201d 2-1 win over Egypt and gave KSA its first World Cup win since 1994. <\/strong>Egypt\u2019s last-place finish in its group is likely to \u201cheap pressure\u201d on the national team\u2019s coach Hector Cuper, Reuters reports.<\/a><\/p>\n

Cuper defended his team, saying the Pharaohs were \u201cunlucky\u201d<\/strong> at the end. \u201cOur strategy has not been a failure. We created at least five good chances on the counter attack and we had a very good first half in which we took the lead,\u201d Cuper said<\/a>, praising the record-breaking performance<\/a> of 45-year-old goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary, who became the oldest competitor in World Cup history. The team\u2019s only goal at yesterday\u2019s match was scored by the usual, Mohamed Salah, who \u201cput aside his highly publicized troubles,\u201d according to the Associated Press<\/a>, and scored his second World Cup goal. Salah later apologized to his fans for an \u201cinexperienced\u201d exit from the World Cup. \u201cI just want to say that Egypt reached the World Cup after 28 years, some players here do not have the required experience,\u201d the Independent quotes him as saying.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Egyptian Football Association is still \u201cemphatically\u201d denying rumors that Salah wants to leave the national team:<\/strong> Reports claiming that national star Mohamed Salah is on the verge of quitting international football continue to dominate headlines in the foreign press. These \u201crumors\u201d are not true and Salah has \u201cmade no complaints\u201d to officials, the national team\u2019s head of PR Osama Ismail tells RT<\/a>. CNN had reported on Sunday that Salah was giving serious thought to leaving the national team after he \u201cunwittingly became a publicity pawn\u201d for Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov and was upset for getting \u201cspecial attention\u201d during the team\u2019s stay in Grozny, according to Reuters<\/a>. \u201cSalah is believed to be upset because he believes he has not been offered suitable protection by the Egyptian Football Association\u201d from the backlash he faced over being photographed with Kadyrov, the New York Times reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To cap it all off, the EFA could face \u201charsh fines\u201d from FIFA <\/strong>after Qatari sports network beIN reportedly complained to the global football governing body about the EFA refusing its request to interview the Egyptian national team during the World Cup. FIFA should be sending word to the EFA within the next few days<\/a>, according to an unnamed EFA official.<\/p>\n

The World Cup has done nothing to raise national morale:<\/strong> The political mess surrounding Salah, compounded by the national team\u2019s disappointing and short-lived run in the World Cup, has only served to worsen the population\u2019s simmering discontent with the country\u2019s conditions, Khaled Diab writes in an opinion piece for Washington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other headlines this morning:<\/strong><\/p>\n