An Egyptian television commentator succumbed to a heart attack around the time when Saudi Arabia scored a stoppage-time winner.
Shortly after his country's team lost its final game to Saudi Arabia via a 2-1 score in the 2018 World Cup, the Egyptian commentator had a sudden heart attack. He initially received treatment in the television station building and his son rushed him to a nearby hospital in Cairo right after.
Abdel Rahim Mohamed was scheduled to appear in the postgame show of an Egyptian state television to give his analysis and commentary on the Egypt-Saudi Arabia showdown.
Mohamed Pronounced Dead In Hospital
Doctors attempted to resuscitate the commentator, but he was pronounced dead. Egypt Today reports that Mohamed was emotional about the national team's poor performance in the 2018 World Cup. Aside from being an analyst and commentator, Mohamed was also a football coach, mentoring the Egyptian club Zamalek. He also worked a trainer for el-Marrikh Sporting Club of Port Said City and el-Mansoura Sporting Club of Mansoura City during his career.
Egypt made it to the 2018 World Cup for the first time since 1990. However, they failed to clinch a victory in the group stage. The Egyptians lost to Uruguay in their opening match, 1-0. Then, they were defeated by host Russia, 3-1, and Saudi Arabia, 2-1. As an expression of their disgust, Egyptian fans shouted "horrible players" at the team bus while leaving the stadium after their clash against Saudi Arabia.
Egypt National Team Coach Expresses Condolences
Hector Cuper, head coach of the Egyptian national team, expressed his condolences to Mohamed's family. During a press conference, Cuper expressed hope that Egypt's loss was not the reason behind the commentator's death.
Cuper was also fired as Egypt's coach after the loss to Saudi Arabia. Cuper was already on his way out as the national team coach, but the Egypt Football Association agreed to extend his term until after the World Cup.
In a statement, EFA confirms that it has parted ways with Cuper and his technical staff. The EFA thanked Cuper for steering the team to the Africa Cup of Nations after a three-year absence and to the World Cup after a 28-year wait.
"We held a meeting after returning from Russia and the entire board decided to say thank you to Cuper and his technical staff," the EFA said in a statement.
"We appreciate the work from the coach, from reaching the Africa Cup of Nations after three years of absence and taking Egypt to the World Cup after 28 years of absence," the statement added.
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