Egypt national team goalkeeper Mustafa Shobier revealed that he studied Lionel Messi's method of taking penalty kicks.
Mustafa Shobier
Club: Al Ahly
Shobier participated with the Egyptian national team in the 2026 World Cup.
Shobier said via MBC Egypt channel: "From the first day we had in the World Cup, the players' agreement was to reach the farthest point in the tournament, not just an honorable appearance or scoring a new goal in the World Cup".
He continued, "It is good to be distinguished in playing with the foot, but the most important thing is to excel in saving shots first".
He added, "I train on a device that shoots the ball at high speeds at Al Ahly club, which simulates players shooting the ball in matches".
He continued, "The goalkeeper position is different from the other positions because there is no substitution in it, and some believe there are disagreements between the goalkeepers, but this is not true".
He stressed, "Being the first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Mohamed El Shenawy, my captain at Al Ahly and the national team and one of the best goalkeepers in Egypt's history, is a wonderful thing for me. El Shenawy has a wonderful mentality and always trains as if he is the one who will play all the matches with the Egyptian national team. Substituting the goalkeeper is a bad thing for the goalkeeper because the goalkeeper wants to play all the matches, and the matter was difficult for me and El Shenawy at Al Ahly".
He added, "The chance I saved in the match against New Zealand, Yasser Ibrahim was going to clear the ball but he did not hear me so he left the ball for me contrary to what I asked him, but thank God I was able to clear the ball".
He continued, "Mohamed Hany had a very big tournament in the World Cup, and his luck was bad after he scored two own goals into our net".
He added, "The match against Argentina was the most difficult match for us in the World Cup, especially the first half. We play against the world champions and they have Messi. I feel that the Egyptian national team focuses more when playing against big opponents like Messi and Argentina, and therefore we appear better in big matches. Until now, all Egyptian national team players are greatly affected because of the match against Argentina. We lost focus in the final minutes due to fatigue, and that was the reason for the loss".
He added, "I did not save any penalty kick against Australia, and I was lucky in saving Messi's penalty kick after studying his method of taking penalties, and I did not think about anything before he shot the ball".
Egypt reached the round of 16 of the World Cup for the first time in history, before exiting the tournament after losing to Argentina three goals to two.
