Egyptian football looks toward bright future after World Cup heroics

RIYADH: For a moment, it felt real. Egypt had been in control against defending champions Argentina for nearly 80 minutes, inching closer to uncharted territory: the final eight of the FIFA World Cup.

In hindsight, Egyptian fans’ refusal to accept that their nation could see this through proved well-founded. Argentina managed to overturn a 2-0 deficit in 13 minutes to seal a 3-2 victory and progress to the quarter-finals.

The result was marred by various controversies: the performance of referee Francois Letexier was severely called into question, the behaviour of the Argentinian fans toward Egypt was condemned, alongside the taunting of Palestine-supporting Hossam Hassan and the discriminatory treatment of Egyptian fans at the stadium entrance.

But there is an avenue that went unnoticed throughout all the chaos. What does the future look like for Egypt after this historic World Cup campaign?

“I grew up watching the Golden Generation of the early 2000s,” said Egyptian fan Khaled Azzam. “Yet I sit here astonished — I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this in my life.

“This new approach to the national team being led by Hossam and Ibrahim Hassan — where they broaden the horizons and look for talent everywhere instead of relying on just the traditional names — has been great,” he added.

That new approach was highlighted by the excellent performances of three players: Emam Ashour, Haissem Hassan and Mostafa Zico.

Had you read any Egypt preview before the tournament, finding anything that did not place Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush as the focal points of the team would have been a rare event. But the performances of this trio opened a new door to the future of Egyptian football.

What is striking about the