Egypt head coach Carlos Queiroz exploded like a volcano over what he claimed was a penalty that should have been awarded to Egypt during Tuesday’s 1-0 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) defeat against Nigeria at the Stade Omnisport de Garoua in Cameroon.
It was the Pharaohs opening game of the tournament in Group D, and Queiroz, who has always been characterised as outspoken, lashed out at referee Bakary Gassama as the former Bafana Bafana coach believes they were denied a clear penalty.
Zizo was brought down inside the Super Eagles penalty area by Moses Simon. Still, the referee adjudged Zizo to have fouled Simon instead with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), reassuring the man in the middle that there is no need to go back and look at the incident.
“In the second half, there was a very clear penalty for us that the referee didn’t award, and the VAR did not intervene,” said Carlos Queiroz, as his troops lost via a Kelechi Iheanacho late goal in the first half.
“Maybe at that time, the VAR was not working. There was clearly a penalty. It wasn’t our day; it wasn’t also a good day for the refereeing. Even my grandmother would have awarded it a penalty,” added the Carlos Queiroz
“It is a disaster because there are VAR referees. It is unacceptable. Watch the incident yourself. It’s unbelievable that with all these referees, no one noticed the penalty,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, in other matches on Tuesday, the defending champions Algeria were surprisingly held to a goalless draw by a spirited Sierra Leone in their opening Group E encounter.
The Leone shot-stopper broke down in tears after the clash as he walked away with the Man of the Match award after pulling off seven saves and keeping a clean sheet against the African title holders.
In the last game of the night, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau played also played out to a 0-0 draw in their Group D opener.
Wednesday’s 12 January Afcon Fixtures:
