Egypt U23 manager Rogério Micale has blamed the referee for their defeat in the U23 Africa Cup of Nations final.
Egypt had reached the final of the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, having topped group B before beating Guinea in the semi-finals.
Their qualification for the final secured their spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics, which is set to take place in Paris, France.
However, Rogério Micale’s men couldn’t cap off their achievements with the title after suffering a heartbreak 2-1 defeat to hosts Morocco on Saturday night.
Despite taking an early led, the Egyptians were reduced to ten men just a few minutes after scoring as VAR instructed the referee to send Mahmoud Saber off.
Speaking of the tie, Micale said: “It was a great match. We dominated the game from the beginning in terms of performance and result until one of our players was sent off.
“We managed to continue despite being numerically disadvantaged, which made us feel like we had achieved a big part of this championship.
“There are things that happen in football that we cannot talk about directly.
“Congratulations to Morocco for the organization and the title, but sometimes the refereeing is not up to par.
“I’m sad inside. I had a certain plan for the project, and we believed in our ability to win the title.
“I thank all the Egyptian fans for their noble feelings, but we lost due to factors beyond our control, and this happens in football.
“Despite the numerical disadvantage, we played well and dominated at times, and we deserved much better than that.”
