On June 27th, in the third round of FIFA World Cup Group G matches, Egypt drew 1-1 with Iran, securing their spot in the knockout stage as group runners-up. After the match, Egypt's goalkeeper Shoubier was interviewed by media in the mixed zone.
First, congratulations on this historic qualification. You are also a member of this qualifying team, just like all your teammates. Today we saw you perform outstandingly, saving a penalty and making a save before the goal that was conceded. Tell us how you feel today, leading the Egyptian national team to this historic qualification. Also, talk about the role of other goalkeepers, especially Mohamed El Shenawy, who is also one of the national team captains. How does he communicate with you? What is your relationship like?
May God bless you. Thank you for your kind words. Of course, thanks be to God, I am very proud of this achievement. But I want to add that it wasn't just my performance; all the players were excellent, and everyone contributed to this achievement. Yasser Ibrahim's clearance in the last minute was truly exceptional. To be honest, everyone put in a lot of effort in competing for possession and in all aspects. We also experienced many injuries and fatigue, but ultimately, thanks be to God, the most important thing is to qualify, which is what we set out to achieve.
As for the goalkeepers, of course, all goalkeepers are excellent, and I am honored to be with them. Mohamed El Shenawy needs no introduction from me; he has an excellent resume and is a great goalkeeper. Honestly, I am very happy to be in this team, among these players, thanks be to God.
Captain Shoubier, I want to know how you felt when you saved the penalty. Of course, we all stood up then and held our breath; that moment was very tense for us. I want to know how you felt at that moment.
Thanks be to God, everything first and foremost comes from God's help. We work hard, and we also have people around us responsible for analyzing performance who do an excellent job, sending everything to us, not just to me, but to all goalkeepers. We thoroughly study our opponents.
Thanks be to God, before every match we chat and look at various scenarios—how the opponent might play and where they might attack. Ultimately, it still depends on your own feel for the game, and before that, of course, everything depends on God's help, thanks be to God.
Captain Shoubier, I am Ahmed Awais. How did you feel after saving the penalty? And how did you feel after you saved that difficult shot, only for the ball to rebound and go in as a goal? Egypt will face Australia next, who are a strong and fast team. Does the Egyptian team have the ability to continue making achievements and qualify for the round of 16? What do you want to say to the Egyptian people? The Egyptian team is participating in the FIFA World Cup for the first time.
Of course, thanks be to God, it has been like this from beginning to end. This is the result of hard work and effort. From the first day we came here, we knew we wanted to do something, to go as far as possible. We hope this is not the end of our journey yet.
As for the penalty and that goal, of course, I originally wished I could have done more, to keep a clean sheet and to perform better on that second reaction. There are definitely areas where we need to continue improving. Thanks be to God, I have tried my best.
Congratulations on your qualification. You seem to be able to step up at crucial moments in every match. Can you talk about that feeling?
This is incredible. I think you also know that this is the first time in history we have qualified, and we are very proud of it. We are now looking forward to the next match. We will celebrate tonight, and starting tomorrow, we will start analyzing Australia's matches.
Of course, they are a strong team. Since they reached this biggest stage of the FIFA World Cup, they are naturally a strong team. We will study them and hope to continue advancing.
Egypt maintained a lot of possession throughout the match, but Iran's counter-attacks were very strong. How do you think your defense dealt with Iran's counter-attacks?
They were fantastic. You saw the center-back make that tackle in the last second; it was truly amazing. Again, everyone did very well. We knew before the match that it would be difficult.
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