Haitham Hassan, the Egyptian national team player, revealed the details of his paperwork crisis before the New Zealand match in the World Cup, adding, "There was a problem with the papers, my situation is fine regarding the papers, but that problem was resolved quickly within 24 hours, and the matter was settled in the end."
He added in statements on the "Al-Hekaya" program broadcast on MBC Egypt: "I was sad because I wanted to participate in the World Cup, and my priority was to play with the national team and leave my mark, but the technical and administrative staff did a wonderful job to catch up with the remaining matches, and I am happy to participate with this group."
Haitham Hassan spoke about his first appearance in the Egyptian national team jersey, saying: "In my first participation, it was a tremendous and great feeling, and I remembered what I had gone through throughout my life until I reached that stage, and despite not participating in the group stage matches, I am happy with what I have achieved."
He pointed to the role of the Egyptian Football Association in his joining the national team, saying: "The Egyptian Football Association contacted me and facilitated matters for joining the national team, and Captain Hani Abu Rida was interested in this file, and Captain Hossam Hassan was the one who explained to me the national team project and the stage it is approaching."
The Egyptian national team player confirmed: "I go to Egypt every summer to spend the vacation with my family, and I am one of the biggest fans of the Egyptian national team."
He stressed his confidence in the national team's abilities, saying: "I came here to win all the matches, the Egyptian national team is the strongest team in Africa, and it is the king of African teams, and the current generation is distinguished, as well as the technical staff that gathered this team, and we have become of one heart, and in the Africa Cup the team showed its capabilities."
He spoke about creating the disallowed goal against Argentina, saying: "At the beginning of the attack, Marwan and Hani were defending, and the technical staff asked me to defend as well, and Marwan passed the ball to me, then I launched and dribbled past the player, then I passed."
He added: "There was the defender who tried to take the ball from me, then I changed my direction, then I passed the ball to Salah, who passed it to Zico, who scored one of the most beautiful goals of the tournament, and I think it is one of the most beautiful goals in the tournament, and unfortunately I don't know why the goal was disallowed."
He continued: "It was a wonderful moment, we were winning 2-0 and we were close to victory, but when the goal was disallowed we felt wronged, and I think if Argentina had scored the goal it would not have been disallowed, and of course this disallowance affected us."
He went on: "I think the whole world saw what happened, and I think we deserved to win, and we played a perfect match, and goalkeeper Mostafa Shobier played a great match, but you can't fight the referee and other things, and exiting the World Cup in this way is sad."
See also..
The reason Barcelona chose to face Al Ahly in a friendly
Mortada Mansour opens fire on Hossam Hassan's critics
Mohamed Salah's drink in Alamein
The truth about the Moroccan national team's solidarity with the Egyptian national team
Egypt's loss to Argentina is the talk of the world
Messi from hero to outcast
