Read 3 minutes8 Jul 2026 03:29 PM IST
“Sometimes, even warriors lose because the devil decides the story should end differently.”
That’s how the acclaimed Real Madrid manager described what happened in between Argentina-Egypt Round of 16 GameWhich ended with the defending champions continuing their title defense and accusing Farrow of being “unfair” and “robbed” as they finished on the wrong side of the 79th minute despite leading 2-0.
Former Porto, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Manchester United and Tottenham – among many other clubs – the manager is in no doubt where his sympathies lie.
“Egypt has every reason to be proud of itself. They stood toe-to-toe with one of the biggest footballing nations in the world and troubled them for every minute. Tonight when I look at Egypt, I don’t see failure. I see warriors. And sometimes, the warriors also lose because the devils want the story to end differently,” the Portuguese was quoted as saying by the Portuguese tactician.
Mourinho believed Hossam Hasan’s charges gave him all he could on the pitch at the Atalanta Stadium. “I don’t think Egypt lost because of the effort. I saw Mohamed Salah. I saw Omar Marmoush. I saw every Egyptian player on that pitch. They never stopped fighting. They ran, they pressed, they believed until the end. Sometimes football rewards courage… Tonight, I don’t think it happened.
“What I saw was a team that gave everything but left nothing in the stadium. The players never gave up. The supporters never stopped singing. But some nights it feels like the football gods have decided to look the other way,” he added.
Another legendary manager, Fabio Capello, believes that “when supporters spend more time discussing officials than players, football itself fails.” “What I cannot accept is inconsistency,” said the Italian.
“Egypt scored a goal that looked completely legitimate, yet VAR looked at every possible angle until they found a reason to disallow it. Later, when Egypt were asking for big decisions in Argentina’s penalty area, the same level of scrutiny disappeared. That left the players, coaches and supporters frustrated,” said the former England, Russia, Real Madrid, Juventus Roma and Juventus management player. platform
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“Football is based on trust. If an incident is reviewed for three minutes, every major incident gets the same attention. You can’t apply one standard to one team and a different standard to another team. That’s when people start questioning the integrity of decisions.” The Italians believed that Argentina had enough quality to overcome Egypt on their own.
“Argentina have world-class players. No one doubts that. Messi, Martinez and the rest have enough quality to win matches on their own. But when controversial decisions repeatedly fall in one direction, the conversation becomes impossible to ignore. Egypt earned the right to lose because Argentina were better – not because the biggest moments looked different.”