Hossam Hassan stressed his feeling of pride for raising the Palestinian flag during the 2026 World Cup.
Hossam Hassan
Club: Egypt
Hossam Hassan led the Egyptian national team to qualify for the round of 16 in the World Cup for the first time in history.
Hossam said via On E channel: "Talking about high balls and the difficulty of playing against Australia's heights angered me because we don't play American football, and we have previously played against African teams with the same physiques and dealt with similar matters before".
He continued, "In the second half, people thought Australia would excel physically, but what happened was the opposite, and I think they wanted the match to end in any way. We knew the match would be difficult, but we insisted on playing our style, and I talked to the players about the necessity of continuing to pressure them during extra time".
He added, "After reaching the penalty shootout, I had already prepared for the matter, and we knew who would shoot in order, and that's why we pushed a player like Mahmoud Saber. Any other player would put Mohamed Salah at the beginning, but I was confident in Mahmoud Saber's ability because he has a strong personality".
He continued, "I was afraid for Hossam Abdel Majeed before taking the penalty kick against Australia. He shoots in a wonderful way, but he missed decisive penalty kicks with Zamalek recently, so I feared the pressure on him, but he insisted on his readiness and he did".
He added, "During my objection to the referee, I did not go to the technical area of the Argentine national team, but I was surprised that their technical staff and players came to us while I was talking to the referee. I endured a lot, so I made the racism gesture, which is my legal right, but he showed me a yellow card. Then Messi came to me, and it's one of the few times I see him intervene in altercations, and I didn't want to direct any words to Messi, and all my words were towards the referee, and I told him that what happened is not fair".
He revealed, "When you have a player like Omar Marmoush and Mohamed Salah, you must benefit from them greatly. Marmoush got several opportunities since the beginning of the tournament, but sometimes any player may have a not good tournament, so to preserve him and the team, he did not start the match against Argentina, and I thought of giving the opportunity to another player. When Marmoush participates, I forget that he plays for Manchester City. What matters to me is only the players' performance".
He concluded, "Proud of raising the Palestinian flag. In the press conference before the match against Argentina, they asked me if I would repeat the matter, and I told them that we would not be human if we did not feel for them, and I told them yes, I will repeat the matter. I believed that we must defend the people whom no one else defends, and I am in the middle of America".
The Egyptian national team bid farewell to the World Cup after losing to Argentina by three goals to two.
