The Egyptian media are renowned for their extravagant praise of emerging stars but Egypt U-20 coach and players feel they are treated in a wholly different way. The World Cup hosts topped Group A to reach the tournament's round of 16 amid enthusiastic support from the home crowd but they are disgruntled by what they perceive as unfair treatment of their first-round success. "Our progress is the best response to those who slaughtered us following the defeat against Paraguay," midfielder Shehab Ahmed, one of the few players to speak to media after Egypt qualified for the next round, said. The young Pharaohs made a bright start to their campaign, producing a ruthless display to outclass Trinidad and Tobago 4-1 in front of sell-out crowd at the 80,000-capacity Egyptian Army Stadium in Alexandria. Such a performance prompted several players to aim high and say they would not accept anything less than a place in the final - Egypt's best outcome was a third-place finish in the 2001 World Cup. A setback was to follow though, with Egypt suffering a last-gasp 2-1 defeat to Paraguay at Cairo Stadium that stirred a flurry of criticism. The criticism was deemed harsh by some players but coach Miroslav Soukup swallowed it, at least in front of media.
Didn't you have other questions? Soukup asked reporters "I want to apologize to thousands of Egypt fans, first because we failed to make them happy today," the Czech coach told reporters after the game. "I also apologize on behalf of my players because they didn't salute the fans after the game." Soukup bore the media judgment of Egypt's defeat against Paraguay but could no longer accept it following the team's thrilling 4-2 victory over Italy on Thursday that lifted them through. While he anticipated questions about how Egypt played so well to overcome the European heavyweights, he was stunned to see a totally different approach from the reporters. Surprised Soukup's choices, defensive fragility and the inability of the full-backs to carry out attacking duties were some issues raised by them in the post-match press conference. "I'm very surprised by your questions because we won and scored four goals!" he commented.
Win over Italy did not stop criticism "We were not facing (Egyptian second-division club) Tersana, we were facing a very strong team so it is only natural to make some mistakes. "I think you should stand by the players following such a victory instead of criticizing them." The majority of Egypt players refused to be interviewed after the game as a sign of protest. Renowned pundit Hassan Al-Mestekawi pointed the finger at the media and Egypt U-20 team alike for the conflict. "The media always exaggerate the joy of victories and the sadness of defeats," he told FilGoal.com. "But at the same time, we should not turn a blind eye to any mistakes even when Egypt win. Victory does not necessarily mean that the team is playing well. "I was personally not happy with the way Egypt played against Italy."
