Hassan: Egypt respects Messi and Argentina, but Africa’s dream comes first

Egypt faces the world champions Argentina and superstar Lionel Messi at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, US, at 18:00 (SA Time), with a place in the quarterfinals at stake. The record seven-time African champions have never reached this level of the competition before, and Hassan wants to continue making more history.

"Of course, we have all the respect and appreciation for Argentina and all their players, including the legend and world superstar Messi. We respect our opponent, but we don't fear anyone because in football, if you think negatively about your opponent, you won't have your own style, " said Hassan.

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"Over the past two and a half years, our focus has been on developing our game, and what matters to us is to impose our style on the pitch. We play without thinking about our opponent's colors, their name, or how important the match is for any team."
 

"Even so, if you look at the matches we played before the World Cup, like the friendlies against Brazil or Spain, we didn't think about them, nor did we think about Belgium. Of course, we respected them, but as usual, we will stick to the same approach."

Egypt are also driven by a desire to become only the second African team in the World Cup last eight, with Morocco already through and facing France in the quarterfinals. Hassan, an Egyptian great himself, says they have a huge responsibility coming to this game.

Meanwhile, following the controversies in this World Cup, Argentina has heavily criticised the appointment of French referee François Letexier, who will be the man in the middle in today’s game. This will be Letexier’s game involving an African nation in this tournament, after officiating in the Ivory Coast and Ecuador’s game, as well as Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia’s group stage games. Hassan chose to stay in his lane on this matter.

There’s another slight challenge for Egypt coming into this game, which will also be played at noon in US time, as it takes place during Ramadan time. But Hassan says this will have no bearing on how they approach this game.