Egypt U23 coach Shawky Gharib has encouraged his players not to worry about their defeat to Brazil in the quarter-finals of the Olympic men’s football event.
Matheus Cunha's 37th-minute goal separated both teams at the Saitama Stadium 2002, and it sent the North African country packing from the tournament.
The Pharaohs aim to end their long wait for a medal in the football event did not come to fruition at Tokyo 2020 but Gharib, immediately after the match, assembled the team on the pitch and advised them to look into the future positively.
They managed just a win which came against Australia (2-0) in their final group game after losing to Argentina (1-0) and holding Spain to a goalless draw.
“I thank you for your effort throughout the tournament. You did a great job,” Gharib was quoted by King Fut.
“We’re out of the Olympics, but against a team that is favourite to win the gold medal, so don’t worry about anything.
“We will not sit here and talk about what we would have done if we faced another team. You fought until the last seconds and we could have equalized until the last minute or even conceded a second goal.
“Now your career with the Olympic team is over, so don’t lose contact with your friends, and if anything happened between you during the match just forget about it and look to the future. You will now become members of the first team and I wish you success.”
Former Stoke City and Huddersfield Town midfielder Ramadan Sobhi took to social media to thank fans for their support.
“Thank you to all the Egyptian fans for the support for the team from the beginning of the tournament, and I very much appreciate your sadness after we left the Olympics,” Sobhi wrote on Instagram.
“Thank you Shawky Gharib, the technical, administrative and medical staff for all your efforts and support over the past years, God willing, the next is better.”