Early exit

Following a surprising 2-0 loss to Costa Rica in round 16, hosts Egypt left the FIFA U20 World Cup. Al-Ahram Weekly reports on the bitter end

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Painted faces could not hide the sorrow of Egypt's fans in Cairo Stadium on Tuesday night after the host country was forced to bid farewell to the U20 World Cup

More than 80,000 spectators flooded out of Cairo International Stadium on Tuesday night with heads bowed as the young pharaohs failed to meet expectations. The dream of reaching at least the quarter-finals had been dashed after underdog Costa Rica snatched a 2-0 win with a goal in each half.

The Egyptians stunned the fans, not only with their loss but with the lacklustre performance they displayed during the match. It was a different performance than what was produced in the group stage against Trinidad & Tobago in an opening 4- 1 victory and Italy which Egypt beat 4-2.

News broke out before the Costa Rica match that there had been a dispute among the technical staff of the team which argued over the starting line-up. The head coach, Miroslav Soukup of the Czech Republic, and his two assistants Hani Ramzi and Mohamed El-Seifi on the other side, argued over who should start. Soukup had insisted on something which proved to be wrong in the first half.

The Egyptians had high hopes for their team and kept supporting until the very end. The VIP tribune was full of dignitaries who came to witness the long awaited moment but they instead left the stadium in despair. The last 15 minutes were the most impressive when, with the score 1-0, the home crowd still felt there was hope. Egyptian flags were flying high as the fans roared and cheered exhorting the players to score, pushing them forward, and instilling in them confidence. The support was unlimited until Costa Rica scored its second goal. The crowds turned silent and started leaving the stadium. The VIP tribune emptied within seconds.

"All I can say on behalf of the team is that we are really sorry. We wanted to make our fans happy but unfortunately we lost," said Afroto, the team's superstar who scored twice in the tournament. "I can't say why I didn't take part in the first half because that's the head coach's decision but I tried my best in the second half but we were unlucky and missed many chances."

Afroto and substitute striker Bougi were the only two players who spoke to the media following the match. They left the pitch after some fans threw plastic water bottles at them.

"I managed to score twice in the last match. I can't say that I didn't participate from the beginning as punishment for my attitude in the last match. I just went onto the pitch in the second half, did my best, but still was unlucky," said Bougi. "Many thanks to the fans who came to support us in huge numbers. We have never played in such an atmosphere. We had the feeling the whole nation was behind us and we are sorry to have let them down."

Against Italy, Bougi angrily gestured to the bench after scoring twice as a sub.

At a press conference after the match with Costa Rica, Sukoup said the team was sorry to leave the competition so early, admitting they had done badly against Costa Rica who were the better side and that it was their mistakes that gave their opponents the advantage.

In other matches of the round of 16, Italy, Ghana, South Korea and Hungary all made it to the quarter-finals of the three- week event. Ghana came from behind against a brave South Africa side before eventually clinching victory 2-1 in extra- time. The match between Ghana and South Africa was the 50th tie to go to extra-time in the competition's history. While it was virgin territory for the South Africans, their opponents at least knew what to expect, having gone through the same experience on three previous occasions, with varying results. After defeating Japan 2-1 in the quarter-finals at Malaysia 1997, the Ghanaians went out 3-2 to Uruguay in the semis. Then two years later Spain knocked them out on penalties in the last eight.

The eastern European battle between Hungary and the Czech Republic also provided a thrilling finale. It was 2-2 after extra time before the Hungarians eventually won on penalties to reach the quarter-finals of a FIFA competition for the first time since the FIFA U-17 World Cup China 1985.

The quarter- finals kick off tomorrow when two matches take place in Suez. The other two matches will be held on the following day at Cairo International Stadium.

Now that Egypt has left the tournament, the all-time attendance record of a U20 championship may not be broken. Egypt had until Tuesday set a record of 880,000 spectators attending 38 matches. The highest overall record ever was achieved in Canada 2007 with 1, 200,000 spectators attending 52 matches.

"We were aiming at breaking the record from the beginning. If Egypt had made it to the quarter-finals, we would have broken the record. But with Egypt's exit, we are not expecting the same crowds," Khaled Abdel-Aziz, the tournament director, said.

"We just want to show the world and FIFA that football is the most popular sport in Egypt and that Egyptians are crazy about the game. We need them to fill the stands and enjoy beautiful and exciting matches among the top teams in the world. They can help us break the record and that will be the real success for us and will compensate for our loss to some extent.

"In the next few days we'll work on a certain campaign to bring the fans again to the stadiums, especially Cairo Stadium and we hope they can help us meet the target. They have to realise that we are not organising just one match but a world Cup and it requires the cooperation of the whole nation," Abdel-Aziz added.

Hungary defeated the Czech Republic from the spot in Round 16, Ghada Abdel-Kader reports from Alexandria

In Alexandria Stadium, Hungary won 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. Hungary will thus meet Italy in Suez on Friday. The Hungarians took the lead through midfielder Mate Kiss after 15 minutes. The Czechs replied with a goal from midfielder Jan Vosahlik in the 26th. The result remained the same until the end of 90 minutes. Czech forward Micheal Rabusic scored in the second minute of extra time. Hungarian midfielder Vladimir Koman scored the second goal on 99 minutes.

In the penalty shoot-out, Hungarian goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi denied Lukas Marecek, Jan Moravek and Radim Reznik. Janos Szabo and Krisztian Nemeth missed two for Hungary. Adam Balajti was more successful and secured Hungary's spot.

Hungary qualified to the quarter-finals for the first time in FIFA competitions since 1985, in the U-17 World Cup .

Czech Republic coach Jakub Dovalil told a press conference after the match: "My team didn't play very well. In the last minutes of match, they wasted a couple of chances to score.

"It is difficult to expect that the match goes on like this 90 minutes, then 45 minutes of extra time and lastly, penalty shots. It is unfortunate. We apologise to ourselves and our fans for not winning the match," added Dovalil.

Hungarian coach Sandor Egervari told the press conference, "It was a very high-level match from the beginning. I am very happy. After all this, we were able to achieve this win. The most important thing for us now is the next game."

Egervari added, "Alexandria gave extra energy for the team. In Hungarian my name Sandor means Alexander the Great. We've been welcomed incredibly well here and I'm sure that my players will have great memories of this place."

Concerning Egypt's 2-0 defeat against Costa Rica, Egervari said, "We didn't expect this result. We expected that Egypt will reach the best four."

Hungarian goalkeeper Gulacsi said his game against the Czech Republic was tough. "The whole team was working very hard. It was really good team work and we are really very happy."

"The atmosphere is very good for us. The Czech Republic is a very good team they played very well. I think, though, we were the better team," added Adam Simon, Hungarian midfielder.

This is the first time in the history of Hungary that it qualified for the U20 World Cup. Gulacsi told Al-Ahram Weekly, "It is a very big thing in Hungary. We haven't had much success in football in the last 20 years. It's really a big success and we really want to keep on making the Hungarian people happier. In the eight there are really good teams. We are going to play against Italy which is a really difficult game. We will do our best. We hope to qualify for the semi finals."

Hungarian defender Zsolt Korcsmar added, "My favourite teams in the tournament are Germany and Brazil. Egypt has many good players. My favourite is Hossam Rafaat.

"In football everything is possible. Who knows who will win the cup."