Mohamed Salah and his Egyptian teammates have been denied entry to a World Cup host city – just hours after securing the nation’s first-ever World Cup victory.
Egypt beat New Zealand 3–1 in Vancouver on June 22, with goals from Mostafa Ziko, Mohamed Salah and Mahmoud Trezeguet. The victory, the first in Egypt’s World Cup history, sent the North African team to the top of Group G – having already drawn 1-1 with Belgium earlier in the tournament.
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Footage of Salah and his teammates celebrating with Egyptian fans in the streets of Vancouver surfaced after the game. But the plans after the end of the game soon took a negative turn.
Denied entry to Seattle
Egypt had planned to fly directly from Vancouver to Seattle after the victory. However, the request was denied by local security authorities, which led to the seven-time African champions having to return to their training base in Spokane, Washington.
In a statement from Egypt’s Football Federation, national team manager Hossam Hassan said:
“The security authorities denied the team’s request to stay in the city of Seattle as planned after the New Zealand match. Therefore, the team’s delegation will return to the city of Spokane.
“The team wanted to travel directly to Seattle to spare the players from travel fatigue due to the many trips in preparation for the Iran match on June 26. But after the security decision, the delegation will return to Spokane.
Egypt is back in action against Iran on June 27, and wanted to stay in Seattle to avoid long travel commitments – since the match will be played in the city. Instead, they may now be forced to take a one-hour and 20-minute flight from Spokane to Seattle just before the game.
Iran has also struggled with travel chaos
Iran has not escaped its travel problems either. The Middle East team has been forced to train in Tijuana, Mexico – despite the fact that all three of their group stage matches have taken place in the United States.
After the hard-fought 0-0 draw against Belgium on Sunday, the team immediately flew back to the training base.
Iran’s head coach Ardeshir Ghalenoei has already expressed his frustration with the less-than-ideal travel arrangements, claiming that his team only had 16 hours to prepare for the match against Belgium.
“We were only able to train half the time we normally use,” he said.
“We wanted to have optimal physical and technical preparation.
“For the third game, they have let us make our own decisions when it comes to travel planning,” he added. “But my problem is: why didn’t they let us come earlier to the first two games as well?
“If they have managed this now, why didn’t they do it for our first game and for this game?”
A draw could be enough for Egypt
Egypt currently leads Group G with four points. Iran and Belgium are in second and third place with two points each, while New Zealand are last with one point.
A draw could be enough to send Egypt through to the round of 32 – but a win will secure their place. The question is whether the travel chaos affects the preparations for what could be a historic evening for the Pharaohs.
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