Egypt coach Hossam Hassan’s stern half-time message fuels their first World Cup victory

VANCOUVER – Egypt coach Hossam Hassan told his players they would not return to the pitch for the second half against New Zealand unless they were determined to get the win their proud supporters deserved.

His stern words had the desired effect as they fought back from a goal down to win 3-1 at BC Place in Vancouver and record their first World Cup victory, putting them top of Group G with four points from two matches after a 1-1 draw with Belgium in their opener.

Hassan had been under pressure to deliver a first win for Egypt, who had recorded five defeats and two draws in their three previous World Cup appearances in 1934, 1990 and 2018 – a statistic which did not sit well with a side who have won a record seven Africa Cup of Nations titles.

“At half-time I told the players we were not going back out onto the pitch unless we were determined to win and to draw confidence from the pride we feel from that support,” Hassan told reporters.

“To the Egyptian football community, we needed time to build confidence, to capitalise on our strengths and reflect on our journey to qualification, as well as the hard work of previous generations who tried to create these opportunities. I wanted this generation to shape its own future, to determine its own path.

“We also want to continue developing at the level of the national league and across African football.”

The turnaround owed much to Mohamed Salah, who scored one goal and set up another as Egypt showed greater urgency and attacking fluency after the break.

Midfielders Mostafa Ziko and Trezeguet scored their other goals after defender Finn Surman had given New Zealand a 15th-minute lead.

“Salah worked hard on the pitch and this is something you should know,” Hassan added.

“I am maybe the first coach to let him play in a position that matches his danger, that matches his capabilities and qualities. We worked on so many things and I am sure we are going to see more from him.”

New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley rued his side’s poor second-half display, which left them needing to beat Belgium to have a chance of reaching the knockout phase.

Egypt top the group with four points while New Zealand are bottom with one. Belgium and Iran have two points each after their 0-0 draw.

“It’s frustrating,” Bazeley said. “We played so well in the first half. We scored a great goal, created lots of chances, felt like we were dominating possession a lot of the time in the first half, and we were comfortable. We weren’t really getting hurt.

“We talked well at half-time, looked at some things we can do a little bit better, we went out second half and we just weren’t able to recreate the tempo and quality that we showed in the first half.”
REUTERS