Egypt Olympic team captain Mohamed Elneny has cited fatigue and injuries as the reason behind the humiliating 6-0 loss to Morocco.
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.
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.
Former Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny believes all of these absences alongside the fact that Egypt played 240 minutes against Paraguay and France were the main reason behind the heavy defeat.
Speaking to the media after the game, Elneny said: “We had some injuries, but we were playing for the win and achieve a historic medal for Egypt.
“Losing this way hurts and we were tired. We played 2 matches with extra time and we travelled between a lot of French cities which negatively impacted us”.
The win gives Morocco its first-ever medal in Olympics football to follow up on their historic achievement in the 2022 World Cup when they finished fourth.
As for Egypt, the wait for an Olympic football medal goes on after losing the bronze medal match for the third time after 1928 in Stockholm and 1964 in Tokyo.