Egypt Olympic national team defender Mohamed Tarek has revealed his frustration with the criticism targeted at him following the heavy Morocco defeat.
Egypt had suffered a 3-1 defeat to hosts France in the semi-finals following a respectable performance, which gave the fans hope ahead of the Morocco game.
READ: Egypt captain Elneny blames injuries & fatigue for Morocco defeat
The clash was a repeat of the U23 Africa Cup of Nations final, which Morocco managed to win 2-1 after extra time for both teams to qualify for the Olympics together.
However, it was a much worse story for the Pharaohs in Nantes as they suffered a humiliating 6-0 defeat to their North African rivals to settle for fourth place.
The Pharaohs entered the game without several of their key players, including Omar Fayed, and Ahmed Eid, as well as the early injury for team star Ahmed Sayed Zizo.
Replacing Omar Fayed at centre-back was Zamalek’s loanee at Al Masry Mohamed Tarek, who had a tough time playing against France and Morocco and suffered a huge backlash after both games.
Speaking to MBC Egypt 2, Mohamed Tarek said: “We didn’t deserve to end the tournament in this way.
READ: Egypt U23 boss Rogério Micale apologises for Morocco ‘undeserved defeat’
“Our ambitions had risen to the point of playing in the final and winning the gold medal as well. All the players gave everything they had, and what happened was just the circumstances of the match.
“We didn’t deserve such a defeat. We prepared for the match just like we did for all the other matches in the tournament. We played to win despite the injuries and fatigue.
“The first goal we conceded discouraged us a little because we had just come out of the match against France and we didn’t quickly shake off the frustration we felt from that game.
“We don’t have a mental coach, but Mohamed Elneny spoke to us after the France match, and coach Micale told us that we had done what was required of us. The match was going well, and France couldn’t beat us except after the red card.
“I’m sad because of the criticism, but I know that every player is prone to mistakes. I played at a very difficult time in the match against France. I’m not the reason for the defeat, nor is any other player, but the red card created more space for them.
“I definitely made a mistake with the second goal, but I wasn’t fortunate, and I didn’t want that to happen. I was surprised by people’s reactions after the match because we had a very strong tournament, and we didn’t deserve that.
“No one fell short against Morocco. The result doesn’t reflect the name of Egypt, but these things happen in football. We weren’t fortunate, and the Moroccan team only had six chances on goal and scored from all of them.”