You have worked hard, you have worked hard, and we have worked hard too! ——Hassan Mustakawi

** It was difficult for you, yes.. Sad, yes.. Satisfied with the team’s performance level, yes. You now feel that we can play the football we want, yes. Yes, we won against a team with international experience. You think that France was better and deserved to win, yes. But the historical question comes to my mind again: “Why did we lose the victory in our hands?” This has happened many times before in football, handball, the Olympics and the World Championships. The answer that I have repeated before and explained verbally and in writing: the difference is mental and physical health. Sometimes we don’t believe that we have the ability to win against world-class teams. But in the match between the Olympic team and France, the team’s performance in the first half was completely out of decorum, and we all described it as one of the best games in Egyptian football in 14 years, especially since 2010.
** In this half, the team played the football we all hoped for. He was a match of the French team, with great attack and defense, good team performance and close distance between players and defense line. Sometimes we played tiki-taka against the French in the second half. Instead, we applied pressure by positioning ourselves in front, sometimes by distributing players to positions and points that prevented the French team from leaving the ball. We played confidently and calmly, we played as a team and each player as an individual. This performance confused Thierry Henry, the French coach said that we were playing football that surprised us. Although he said before the game that it would be difficult, he realized in the first half that it would be difficult. Look at his confusion and expression in the first half. But during the game, I pointed out that this tactic might drain the team’s energy in the second half, and it did happen.
** Despite the pressure from France after we took the lead with Mahmoud Saber’s goal in the 62nd minute, despite the great performance of Hamza Alaa and the friendship between him and Al-Qaim, despite the fact that we were very close and now it is like this. 7 minutes away from qualifying for the final. We lost it all when France equalized in the 83rd minute, Jean-Philippe Mateta broke through a gap in the defense and scored alone with Hamza Alaa. This gap was caused by the players’ lack of concentration, the feeling that the game ended in qualification, and the lack of physical strength or loss of physical fitness after a great effort.
** This goal by France frustrated the national team players and also frustrated us, as we all felt that the national team’s elimination from the final was already possible. There was a huge difference in physical strength, technique and speed between the two teams. Going into extra time was a very big physical burden for our players. Despite a desperate attempt, Omar Fayed’s dismissal in the 92nd minute had a great impact on the morale and discipline of the Olympic team. After this dismissal, Martita scored the second goal for France in the 99th minute, and then Wikal Oliset scored the third goal for France. In the 108th minute, the last match was played against Spain at the Parc des Princes, and Spain defeated Morocco 2/1.
** Playing the last match is already history for me. Without overusing the word history, history and history. We could have guaranteed the silver medal. But now the pen and the show are back to talking about the historic bronze medal against Morocco, but it will not be easy because the Moroccan team is also playing modern football and is playing with fighting spirit and struggle. We have to organize our efforts and play with the same mentality that we had in the first half against France. Whatever the result, let’s start playing the football that we really want from the first half against France, at the Olympic Forum, in front of 60,000 fans who have been screaming, cheering and encouraging.
** Hats off to the team and its great coach… and to the players. It is inspiring and exciting for us, our hearts stop for you, for the dream of the final and the medal.