Egypt’s players, coach Hossam Hassan, and several pundits, including the legendary Mohamed Aboutrika, have launched scathing attacks on Fifa and the “unjust” officiating the Pharaohs faced during their 3-2 loss against Argentina in a dramatic last 16 clash at the World Cup on Tuesday.French referee François Letexier was accused of bias against the Egyptian side and made inconsistent calls throughout the contest, which saw Argentina score three goals in the last 14 minutes to wipe out Egypt’s 2-0 lead.Letexier opted to cancel a Mostafa Zico goal for the North Africans after a VAR review showed a seemingly light foul committed at the very beginning of the play on the opposite side of the pitch, but refused to review a similar foul committed against Mohamed Salah inside the Argentinian box that came right before the world champions’ game-winning third goal.“We had the right to win and I don’t want to say ‘hard luck’ to us – no, we leave with honour, but the final result is a far cry from the ‘fair play’ that Fifa talks about. And far from the respect. So, no respect, and no fair play today,” said Hassan during his press conference.“Argentina’s victory is undeserved. I promise you that once I return today, I won’t watch any football at this World Cup because there is no justice in it. My personal protest is that I won’t watch the World Cup anymore when I get home.”In his interview with beIN Sports, Hassan listed various questionable decisions made by the referee, saying he “wasn’t fair”. “Maybe it’s a marketing thing,” the coach added. “Maybe they want to keep the reigning World Cup champions to stay in the competition, they want to keep [Lionel] Messi in the competition.”A tearful Zico, who scored both the disallowed goal and Egypt’s second goal, hit out at the referee in his post-match interview, saying: “The referee is not fair. He is unjust, it’s just blatant injustice. He’s throwing away the hard work of an entire nation. From the start of the match, he was coming at us, like it’s unacceptable for us to be beating Argentina 2-0. The tournament is rigged.”Play00:54Egypt players in tears at news conference after loss to ArgentinaAboutrika, in beIN Sports studio, said it was obvious the Egyptian players felt from the start that the referee was against them, explaining that that is a “lethal feeling”.“You want us to play against Messi, and play against Fifa, and play against the officiating? I want my rights. I don’t want anything more than my basic rights,” Aboutrika added.“Did we face injustice? Yes, we did.”Fifa president Gianni Infantino has come under fire for delaying the red card suspension of USA forward Folarin Balogun by one year, after he received a phone call from President Donald Trump asking Infantino to get the striker’s automatic ban reviewed so he would be available for the last-16 game against Belgium.“Fifa is not fair play, Fifa is now telephone play. ‘We need a red card removed, sure, we’ll remove it’. Infantino has ruined football, unfortunately,” said Aboutrika.“Rescinding a player red card by phone at a World Cup? And bullying the referee by saying the referee who handed the player the red card has a bad record. That’s abuse directed at the referees; that should never be allowed. So now football is in danger.”Ahmed Shobeir, the former goalkeeper of Egypt’s national team and father of the Pharaohs’ current ‘keeper Mostafa Shobeir, echoed Aboutrika’s sentiments and questioned Infantino’s neutrality.“Until when will [FIFA] as an organisation stay that way?” said Shobeir on Mido’s show Odet El Lebs.“We saw in the game against Cape Verde, Infantino was very upset when Argentina looked like they were going to lose. And he even accidentally admitted it. Not to mention the story of the American player who got his red card rescinded.”Mido, the former Egypt and Tottenham striker, praised the players for their heroic performances throughout the World Cup and had some strong words for Fifa and Infantino.“We’ve been saying this for years, that Infantino and his men are transforming football into a purely commercial game and football has become all about capitalism,” said Mido.“It’s about making money at the expense of players, or coaches, or the future of the game, it doesn’t matter at the expense of what, it’s all about making money.“Today Egypt was subjected to great injustice. The Salah ball was a penalty. If he gave Argentina a penalty, then this should have been a penalty.“Honestly, I thank the players, the staff and everyone because for the first time in my life I can use the term ‘an honourable exit’.”Calls for Hassan to continueHassan’s contract expired upon Egypt’s World Cup exit, and while the fate of him and his twin brother Ibrahim, who is the director of the national team, has yet to be determined, reports on the channel On Sport suggest the twins will remain in charge until at least the 2030 World Cup.Hossam has been credited for transforming the national team in a short period of time, giving them an identity they had been lacking, and unearthing hidden gems like Zico and France-born Real Oviedo forward Haissem Hassan, whose skills in the Australia and Argentina games stood out.After a decade of solely relying on Salah, Egypt looked like a complete team in North America, with 26 players willing to give everything they’ve got for Hossam, who won multiple Afcon titles and represented the Pharaohs in the 1990 World Cup during his playing days.Aboutrika and many other pundits have stressed the importance of Hassan’s role in Egypt’s unprecedented run at this World Cup and are in full favour of his contract renewal.Hossam sees his work with the national team as a long-term project, and is keen on building a future generation, spearheaded by the likes of Omar Marmoush, Hamza Abdelkarim and Haissem Hassan, to take over the baton from the 34-year-old Salah.Aboutrika gave Hassan full credit for uncovering the talents of players like Zico, who was a late addition to the squad and scored twice at the World Cup, but noted that the process of identifying prospects must start at an early age.“Zico is captain Hossam Hassan’s discovery. Captain Hossam took several bold and brave decisions at this World Cup. But also, this is one of our problems. How old is Zico? He is 29 years old. We have to do better at scouting young talent,” said Aboutrika.“We are 120 million people, and you tell me we have no talent? Of course Egypt is full of talent. But you have to look for it. Because in some cases, a young boy doesn’t have the means to go to the trials.“Hossam has a good eye and he is convincing when he speaks to a player. He was a legendary player and can convince his players to perform a certain way because he was in their shoes.”Mostafa Shobeir was brilliant for Egypt. AFPInfoEurope calling for ShobeirMostafa Shobeir became just the fifth goalkeeper in World Cup history to save two penalties (outside shootouts) in a single edition and finished the competition with a total of 14 saves, thanks to a string of standout performances.The unanimous view across Egyptian television and from all the pundits is that the 26-year-old Al Ahly ‘keeper must land a contract at one of Europe’s top five leagues on the heels of his phenomenal World Cup campaign.“Mostafa Shobeir is scary. Since Essam El Hadary, I have not seen a goalkeeper playing with that level of confidence, except for Mostafa Shobeir. He has to go play abroad, and at a big club as well. Going back to play in the Egyptian league would be a real shame,” said former Egypt and Zamalek forward Shikabala on the MBC Masr show Fayek fel Mondial.Over on beIN Sports, former Egypt and Aston Villa right back Ahmed Elmohamady said: “This was a historic performance from Mostafa Shobeir at this World Cup.“Before the tournament, there were doubts about Hossam Hassan favouring Shobeir over Mohamed El Shenawy but the faith captain Hossam had in Shobeir gave him the edge and he did not disappoint.“From the very first game against Belgium he has been exceptional. He saved a penalty against Iran and today against Messi and his other saves against Mac Allister and Alvarez.“I think he has given one of the greatest performances among all the Egyptian players at this World Cup.”Shobeir looked inconsolable after the game and could barely look the beIN Sports reporter in the eye as he answered his questions.“Victory was close but we were missing some small details that can make all the difference in big games like this one. We did our best and tried until the last minute but it wasn’t meant to be,” said Shobeir.Aboutrika’s plea for SalahWhile he hasn’t revealed his intentions regarding his future with the national team, Salah may have played his very last World Cup game on Tuesday, but not if Aboutrika has any say in the matter.The retired legend has urged Salah to keep the Egypt jersey on for a few more years, addressing the former Liverpool star on TV by saying: “Calm down. We need you. We have an Afcon and another World Cup coming up. Forget about the ‘last dance’ talk and all that. Egypt doesn’t produce a Mohamed Salah every day. So he shouldn’t take any rash decisions.”