Rami Rabia revealed new details after our national team's exit from the 2026 World Cup, against Argentina in the round of 16 of the Mundial.
Egypt's national team bid farewell to the 2026 World Cup competitions after a historic run that took them to the round of 16, exiting at the hands of the defending champions, the Argentina national team, with a score of (3-2) amid widespread refereeing controversy.
The Egyptian national team returned to the country yesterday, Friday, and was honored by President Sisi after the Pharaohs' wonderful run in the 2026 World Cup tournament.
Rami Rabia's statements
Rami Rabia, the Egypt national team player, said that the Pharaohs were the better side during the match against Argentina, pointing to the players' superiority in duels and their great desire to achieve victory.
Rabia added, during his hosting on "MBC" channel: "We were better than the Argentina national team on the pitch, and we felt our superiority during the match through the duels, and we were outperforming the Argentina national team players in this aspect."
The Egypt national team defender continued: "We talked as players before the match about the necessity of winning all duels against Argentina, and all our focus was solely on achieving victory, and we succeeded in outperforming them from the first minute."
He went on: "Mustafa Shobier's save of Messi's penalty kick gave us more confidence, and I was looking at the national team players and saw they had a great state of confidence and desire to win, and if any player felt lazy, he would feel embarrassed, because everyone had unnatural enthusiasm and desire to achieve victory, and this is the team's spirit."
He continued: "Any contact with the Argentina players, the referee would award it as a foul in their favor, and in return, he did not award us some balls, and of course we had mistakes and this is normal in football, as it is impossible for any team not to make mistakes during the match, but some of the referee's decisions affected us."
The Al Ain UAE player stressed: "The referee limited the strength of the Egypt national team players, and he was awarding every challenge against us as a foul, but these are not excuses, as we did indeed make mistakes and this is possible in football."
Rabia concluded his statements by saying: "The cancellation of Zico's goal was due to a normal challenge that happens in matches, but it was also not the main reason for the loss, although some of the referee's decisions gave the Argentina players a greater morale boost."
