Mohamed Aboutrika has taken aim at Egypt coach Hossam Hassan over his decision to bring on Hamza Abdelkarim against Iran at the 2026 World Cup.
The Pharaohs claimed a precious 1-1 draw against Iran on Saturday morning in the third and decisive round of Group Seven, qualifying with five points in second place behind Belgium on goal difference.
That result set up a round-of-32 meeting with Australia, runners-up of Group Four, next Friday.
Hassan turned to Abdelkarim in the 76th minute in place of Mostafa Zikou. It was the third match in a row in which the young Barcelona star has appeared at the tournament.
Disaster struck soon after. Full-back Ahmed Fattouh suffered a hamstring injury and had to finish the match hurt, with Egypt having already used all five substitutions.
Aboutrika told beIN Sports after the match: "Hossam Hassan was hasty in making the final change by bringing on Hamza Abdelkarim. He should have kept the remaining change given the state of the match."
He added: "The match was at a fast tempo and had one-on-one battles and saw muscle injuries such as the injury to Mohamed Salah, so he should have anticipated other injuries occurring."
The former star continued: "We came under pressure in the final ten minutes because of Fattouh's injury and the inability to replace him. The Iranian side played from that side and sent in crosses."
"I would have preferred for Fattouh to come off the pitch and not play injured, because this was going to expose him to a worsening of the injury," he went on.
Aboutrika rounded off his thoughts on the matter: "We must learn from the mistakes of this match because Egypt's next opponent, Australia, will play in the same way."
Turning to another subject, the former star praised the abilities of Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir, but called on him to learn from his father, the former goalkeeper Ahmed Shobeir.
"Shobeir is a distinguished and committed goalkeeper who knows how to deal with pressure, and as we say, 'like father, like son', but he must learn from his father how to slow the play down," Aboutrika explained. "His father had great experience in this aspect inside the penalty area."