cheated

‘Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition,’ Hassan said after his team was knocked out.

Egypt coach Hossam Hassan claims his side was “cheated” out of a place in the World Cup quarterfinals after Argentina staged a stunning late comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in a gripping last-16 match in Atlanta.

The Pharaohs started as underdogs but took the lead against the world champions within 15 minutes, which was doubled in the second half before Argentina walked away with the win on Tuesday.

“I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today; we have suffered injustice,” Hassan said in an explosive post-match news conference.

Egypt had a Mostafa Zico goal ruled out when they were leading 1-0 as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervened to spot a foul on Lisandro Martinez much earlier in the move.

Zico did then put Egypt on the brink of a place in the last eight for the first time by doubling their lead.

However, the defending champions hit back as Cristian Romero reduced the arrears before Lionel Messi, who had a first-half penalty saved, smashed in the equaliser with his eighth goal of the tournament.

The controversy did not end there, though, as in the buildup to Argentina’s winner scored by Enzo Fernandez, Egypt believe they should have instead been awarded a penalty for a pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy.

“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play,” Hassan said.

“A penalty was ruled out, was not even checked by VAR. A second goal was remarkably disallowed. There has not even been a VAR check when we have all seen the image of the [shirt] being pulled back.”

Hassan said he would not watch any more matches of the tournament, such was the injustice he felt.

“I am not going to continue following the matches of this World Cup,” he added.

“This is my own way of speaking up.”

‘They wanted Messi to stay’

After Yasser Ibrahim’s header put Egypt in front, Argentina were awarded a penalty for a trip on Nicolas Tagliafico.

Messi’s problems with World Cup penalties continued as his effort was saved by Mostafa Shobeir.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has now failed to score four of his eight non-shootout spot-kicks at the World Cup, including two misses at this tournament.

Hassan speculated that the officials had been put under pressure to keep one of the biggest names in the competition.

“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running,” he told BeIN Sports.

“In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champions received support at every level.”

Egypt had been surprisingly attacking early on in the game, a departure from Hassan’s usual tactic of playing with a tight defence and looking for counterattack opportunities.

It helped them take an early lead, but it was the heroics of goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir that ensured they remained in front by half-time.

“I’m very, very satisfied with the effort they put in. Most of our players come from the Egyptian domestic league, while many players in other national teams are based in Europe and live in that professional environment,” Hassan added.

“Yet with predominantly local players – besides Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush – we were able to compete with anyone.”

Hassan also complained about the scheduling of the match for a noon kick-off (16:00 GMT), just four days after both sides had won their round of 32 matches.

“Whoever schedules those matches has never played football. You never schedule a game for 12pm. At noon you go for a walk or to eat brunch; you do not go to play football.

“When are the players supposed to eat? At 7:30am?

“There have been a lot of things to be questioned on and off the pitch.”

PERRIE Edwards has laid bare her former heartache over her “hellish” split with boyband singer Zayn Malik.

The Little Mix alum, who started dating the One Direction star in 2012, told of her “breakdowns” following their break-up in 2015.

The pair became engaged prior to calling time on their relationship, yet things ended badly, with Perrie, 32, claiming that Zayn broke up with her via text.

Rumours were also rife that he cheated on the Black Magic singer and the popstar, who now is a mum of two and set to wed fiance Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, has again hinted at infidelity and “overlap” in a new chat on podcast Great Company.

She bravely re-visited her “hellish” heartache in the chat with Made in Chelsea alum Jamie Laing and said of her split with Zayn: “When you go through heartbreak, it is hellish.

“It’s the worst thing in the world. You can’t eat. You can’t sleep. You feel horrendous.

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“You feel abandoned and you don’t feel good enough and you feel like you’ve been left for something better or whatever it is.

“And then what makes it even worse is, I felt like the world was then looking at me, laughing at me.

‘Not my fans, my fans were like, ‘we love you, we’ll fight your corner no matter what.’ But I felt embarrassed. I felt horrified. It was awful”.

The Shout Out To My Ex hitmaker then told Jamie she didn’t stay sane in the aftermath of the split and had “serious breakdowns”.

She added: “It wasn’t just the heartbreak I was dealing with.

“I was dealing with everybody looking at me and I felt ridiculed. I just couldn’t cope with it.

“I hated it. I was breaking down in performances, which isn’t like me at all. I was breaking down. I was crying constantly. I think I was depressed.

“And I know it sounds ridiculous, but I think it was this plus, this plus, this and everything on top.

“I had to be there for the girls. I had to be switched on. I had to power through for Little Mix, but I also just wanted to be left the f**k alone. But I also was getting followed every two seconds and asked about it 24/7”.

In the lengthy chat she hinted at an “overlap” between Zayn and another of his lovers and admitted she “needed to be careful” how to phrase it.

She then referenced his music video for his debut solo single Pillowtalk, which featured supermodel Gigi Hadid, who would go on to be his girlfriend and the mother of his child.

Perrie said: “I need to be careful how I say this, but there was, let’s just say there was a bit of a… I’m just going to say it.

“So there was a bit of an overlap.

“I think when you’re moving on with somebody else you always get on better.

“When you’re the one left behind, that’s when it’s hard because it’s like, ‘Oh s**t, they’ve left me for someone more beautiful than me, someone better than me.’

‘Whatever it is, that’s how it felt at the time.

“And then you have a song that they’ve written about you, but then someone else is in the video.”

The Sun has gone to Zayn’s rep for comment.

Thankfully, Perrie’s love life is now firmly on the up.

The singer and footballer fiance Alex, both 32, announced their engagement four years ago and share children Axel, four, and Alanis, who was born in January.

Zayn and Gigi dated in 2015 and had an on-off relationship until 2021.

They share daughter Khai, who was born in 2020.