World Cup: Egypt players stay ‘in the zone’ to beat Australia on penalties
Perfect conversion rate helps Egypt into last 16, with coach Hossam Hassam saying he told team ‘not to think about the pressure’
Egypt’s players were encouraged to blot out all distractions and just concentrate on delivering their kicks, coach Hossam Hassan said after they converted all their penalties to overcome Australia in a shoot-out to advance at the World Cup on Friday.
Egypt won 4-2 in the shoot-out after a 1-1 stalemate to book a place in the last-16, winning a first knockout tie at the World Cup.
“I went to the players and talked to them. I wanted to take some pressure off,” Hassan said of his passionate pre-shoot-out delivery as the players huddled around him at the end of extra-time.
“I told them, ‘Do not succumb to the pressure. Do not think about the pressure. Do not look around and wonder what are we supposed to do? Just let that curtain drop. Just let everything out, just don’t think about anything else. Just think about your penalty kick. Don’t even think about the goalkeeper, only your kick.’”
Hassan, who is Egypt’s top goalscorer and previously also the world’s most capped international, has extensive experience of similar pressure situations.