Egypt coach Hossam Hassan ended his latest press conference with a tribute to the people of Palestine.
Egypt beat Australia in the last 32 of the World Cup, progressing to the last 16, something they’ve only done once before.
Speaking in his press conference afterwards, the country’s record scorer said: “My heart and soul are with the Palestinian people.
“I thank them and dedicate this victory to them.
“We have succeeded in honoring the Arabs, and we are part of them.
“Praise be to God. Congratulations to Egypt, the Arab world, and Africa.”
Hassan’s Palestine tribute
He continued: “Of course I prayed, I was thinking about the fans, and even during the penalty shootout I was praying and asking ‘God let the Egyptian people be happy, don’t let them down’.
“Congratulations to the Arab and African nations, to our Palestinian brothers and sisters, may God protect them and have mercy on them.
“This victory is for the Egyptian people. In the end, we were all crying. It was very difficult, and we wanted to make our people happy.”
Palestinian journalist Tamer Nahed responded: “For the first time, I’m following the World Cup with this much excitement.
“I was so happy to see Egypt win a little while ago, but the most beautiful sight was here … thousands of people came out of their tents and from among their destroyed homes to watch the match.
“Faces lit up with smiles, cheers filled the air, and it felt as if everyone had decided to give themselves a moment of life despite everything surrounding them.”
Hassan talks Salah
In further comments, Hassan commented on Mohamed Salah’s condition.
He added: “We all knew it was very important that it wasn’t revealed whether he was going to be in the starting eleven or not, because it was something that affected the opponent.
“You don’t have to reveal everything. We were clear that he was going to play, but sometimes you have to be a bit diplomatic.
“He played the whole match and I thank him for what he did.”
Egypt’s pre-match interrupted by Dallas police
Before the match their were concerning scenes at the team hotel when police were filmed pushing Hassan and forward Trezeguet while trying to take a photo with a fan at the team hotel.
Egypt’s national team media officer Mohamed Morad told the Reuters news agency: “A man and his son went to take a photo with Ibrahim Hassan and Trezeguet, and the national team’s director approved the request
“However, a security officer intervened and pushed the fan, as well as Trezeguet and Ibrahim Hassan, even though the player and the team director were in their designated area.
“Ibrahim then asked the security officer to deal with the fan in a normal manner.”
The Dallas Police Department said it was aware of a video circulating on social media showing a heated interaction involving one of its officers.
“The Dallas Police Department responded to an area hotel at the request of hotel security regarding an individual without event credentials attempting to gain access,” said a statement posted to social media.
“It was later learned that the individuals weren’t displaying credentials properly, which is a requirement.
“The situation was resolved on scene, and DPD met with representatives of the team to address their concerns. The matter has since been resolved.”
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