{"id":37749,"date":"2026-06-22T16:55:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=37749"},"modified":"2026-06-22T16:55:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:55:50","slug":"egypts-zico-takes-world-cup-chance-after-putting-holiday-on-hold","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/egypts-zico-takes-world-cup-chance-after-putting-holiday-on-hold\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt\u2019s Zico takes World Cup chance after putting holiday on hold"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">Mostafa \u201cZico\u201d Mohamed was preparing for a summer vacation on Egypt\u2019s north coast when an unexpected call-up to the national team changed his plans.<\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\"ms-outlook-mobile-signature\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cI was far away from the national team and honestly wasn\u2019t expecting it,\u201d the Pyramids FC forward told reporters after scoring one goal and setting up another in Egypt\u2019s 3-1 World Cup win over New Zealand on Sunday.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cCoach Hossam Hassan brought me from the north coast. I was about to go on vacation and suddenly I found myself at the World Cup.\u201d<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>A fringe player before the tournament, Zico is quickly emerging as one of Egypt\u2019s standout performers.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Named after Brazilian great Zico, he is part of a long tradition in Egyptian football of players adopting the names of international stars.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>The versatile attacker, who can operate on either wing or as a centre forward, has repaid the coach\u2019s faith with a string of influential displays.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>He scored in pre-World Cup friendlies against Russia and Brazil before opening his World Cup account against New Zealand in Vancouver, where he also set up Mohamed Salah\u2019s goal with a clever back-heel pass inside the penalty area.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Egypt\u2019s victory over New Zealand was the country\u2019s first at a World Cup and put them in a commanding position in Group G heading into their final match against Iran as they chase a place in the knockout phase for the first time.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cFrom the first minute until now, Hossam Hassan has given us confidence,\u201d said Zico. \u201cThank God I haven\u2019t let him down for a single second.\u201d<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Despite Egypt\u2019s strong start, the players were not getting carried away, he added.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWe still haven\u2019t achieved anything yet. Hopefully we can go even further,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWe are the strongest team in Africa. Why shouldn\u2019t we go as far as possible in this tournament?\u201d<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\u2014Reuters\u2014<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":37133,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-37749","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"He scored in pre-World Cup friendlies against Russia and Brazil.","published_date":"","news_description":"He scored in pre-World Cup friendlies against Russia and Brazil.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37750,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37749\/revisions\/37750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=37749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}