Egypt national team player Mohand Lasheen revealed that he thought about retiring after the Africa Cup of Nations loss, and revealed what happened between the halves during Egypt's match against New Zealand.
Mohand Lasheen
Club: Pyramids
Mohand Lasheen participated in the Egypt national team lineup during the World Cup as a starter in 4 out of 5 matches.
Mohand Lasheen, the Egypt national team player, said on MBC Egypt 2: "There are many motives that make you explode on the pitch."
He added, "The match against Belgium was the hardest for me in my career. Because I made a mistake before it in the friendly against Brazil and caused a goal due to my delay in making a decision, and I was attacked afterwards and some called for me to sit on the bench."
He continued, "During the match against Brazil, Salah asked me to forget the mistake and continue in the same style, and I played 70 good minutes in the match."
He added, "After the match, I put a lot of pressure on myself, especially since we are participating in the World Cup, and thank God I was successful during the match against Belgium because it was a very big challenge."
He revealed, "I was sad about missing the penalty kick in the Africa Cup of Nations final, but I was subjected to huge pressure, because of which I did not leave my room for a week and thought about retiring."
He continued, "From that time, my goal was to write a new history in my career, and I crowned the first title in the history of Tala'ea El Gaish and 6 other titles with Pyramids. My goal was to write a large record in my career and this is the mentality I worked with."
He added, "I told my wife and children before traveling that I would make an effort that would make them happy and proud of me."
He explained, "A player's personality appears in the big match before the small one, in addition to deriving it from your coach and from a legendary player like Mohamed Salah. Argentina has very big names and Messi beside them, and we are like them and Salah is beside us."
He added, "Hossam Hassan is a brave coach who is not afraid. Hossam Hassan during the lectures before the match against Argentina told us that we would face Messi the legend and then the number 10 player and not Messi. It is not to belittle him but so that we deal normally without fear and in a normal way."
He continued, "Before the match against Argentina, Salah spoke to us and asked us to enjoy and show the best we have because the whole world is watching us."
He added, "After Argentina equalized, we felt that we were capable of beating them. We were playing with the character of the big team and we wanted to have a reaction after conceding the two goals."
He stressed, "We were wronged refereeing-wise by not awarding a penalty to Salah from which the third goal came. Salah is sure it is a penalty because he plays at the highest level and knows that well.
He continued, "Salah strongly objected to the referee, and although the referee saw Hamdi Fathy's torn shirt, he refused to award a penalty."
He continued, "During the Egypt national team camps in the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup, we were one group, which I felt for the first time."
Regarding what happened in the match against New Zealand, he said: "While leaving the pitch in the first half against New Zealand, we could not believe that we were behind in the score, especially since our goal was to achieve victory."
He revealed, "Hossam Hassan was nervous between the halves while talking to us, then calmed down a bit and started talking about the technical roles on the pitch."
He added, "Hossam Hassan was aiming to make substitutions between the halves, but because of his vision of our responsibility, he did not make any substitution because he trusted us."
He concluded, "Salah told us that we are not here to have fun, and that there is a people waiting for us to achieve the first victory, especially since his ambition ceiling rose after the good performance against Belgium."
The Egypt national team ended its World Cup journey in the round of 16 with a 3-2 loss to Argentina.
Mohand was absent from the Egypt national team squad against Australia in the round of 32 due to suspension after receiving two yellow cards in the group stage.
