STOCKHOLM – In a sensational performance, goalkeeper Karim Hendawy guided his Egypt side through to the last eight of the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship as they saw off a spirited Bahrain by four (26-22) in their main round clash at the Malmo Arena.
For the time being, the Asian silver medallists and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games quarter-finallists are still in contention but they have to hope for a Denmark loss against the USA later – and that’s just the start of the run of results they need. A Belgium win against Croatia in the next match would also help.
In short, Zamalek’s Karim Hendawy made the difference in this crucial match for Aron Kristjánsson’s Bahrain side.
In a very scrappy first-half, Bahrain was well on their way. Egypt’s Ahmed Mohamed missed the very first chance of the match and this set the tone for most of the opening 30 minutes.
Goal, turnover, save, turnover, technical fault. This was a common theme, with Hendawy being responsible for nearly all the first-half saves.
The two teams managed 12 saves between them in that opening period, with Hendawy making 10 of them and Bahrain’s goalkeeping pair registering just one each. Hendawy was sitting on a 56 per cent save rate and Bahrain, who seemed to take ages with every attack, could not find a way through.
A ripped shirt of Egyptian line player Ibrahim El-Masry was maybe evidence of the fight in defence. Still, eight turnovers from the African champions in the first half must not have pleased their coach Roberto Parrondo.
But Egypt did break free despite their attempts to sabotage their attack, an Ali Zein 107km/h rocket putting his side three up (11:8) after a run. This resulted in Kristjansson taking his first time out, where he could be heard talking about a tactical play called ‘Cairo’, or at least it sounded like that.
Whether Kristjansson used Egypt’s capital city as a tactic or not, his side fell further behind in the second-half, down by seven (11:18) relatively early (37th minute).
Egypt were cruising and Kristjánsson took his time out and sprung an open, 3-3 defence on his opponents on the other side and slowly they came back, moving within three (21:24) in the 56th minute, despite Parrondo taking an earlier time out.
But Egypt came back and ensured victory, both coaches no doubt looking at 100 attacks in total in the match (51 for Bahrain and 49 for Egypt), but counting less than half of those converted into attacks.
“It was a nice match for the spectators and I’m happy for the victory because this means that we are qualified for the quarter-finals and this is the most important thing,” said Parrondo. “We made 13 turnovers today, a lot of mistakes, technical fouls, we couldn’t play really well in attack.
“The last 10 minutes of the first-half we increased our intensity, got more focused and could get a small gap. Even though we didn’t play our best match, we could play with a good distance.”
“There’s always something special when two Arabic teams meet,” added Kristjánsson. “We started very well in our 5-1 defence and created problems for Egypt, but Hendawy was saving many chances.
“When they went seven ahead, we went 3-3 and could surprise them a little bit, but in the end we lost too many good chances.”
The result means that Egypt stay on course to at least equal their home soil ranking of seventh back in 2021, and Hendawy could not be happier.
“This is good for us and Egypt,” said the goalkeeper about making the quarter-finals. “Last time we were there and this time it is the same, it is big. We need to enjoy it but we also need to work and hope we will do our best.”
His opposite number Mohamed Ali, who could only make one save, summed up the match perfectly,
“He killed us,” said the Al Najma player about the performance from Hendawy.
Netherlands vs Germany 26:33
Having received a Wild Card for the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, the Netherlands produced excellent performances in their return to the world handball flagship competition for the first time since 1961.
The first two wins were followed by a narrow loss against Norway (26:27), which meant that the Dutch side had little room for mistake in the next matches of the main round in Katowice, particularly in the one against Germany.
The maths were simple: if Germany won, they were in, joining Norway in the quarter-finals at Poland/Sweden 2023. If the Netherlands won, well, everything would have changed and Staffan Olsson’s side would stand a chance to fight another day for a place in the knockout round of the competition.
Until another day, though, they chose to fight on Saturday evening, where a sea of German fans flocked to the Spodek Arena in Katowice to cheer for their favourites, who were aiming to start the IHF Men’s World Championship with five wins in a row for the first time since 2003.
But for the first 10 minutes, everything for Germany was connected to number two. Juri Knorr and Julian Koster each scored two goals, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff had two saves, and the Netherlands kept their opponents at bay, creating the setup for a crunch match.
Germany went then on a 3:0 unanswered run as Wolff started to get hot between the posts, reading his opponents better and better. All while, Juri Knorr really began to get into the groove after missing his first three shots of the game, constantly hampered by an aggressive 5-1 defence from the Netherlands.
Until the end of the first half, Knorr had six goals and three assists, with a direct hand in 60% of Germany’s goals in the game, once again scoring and creating at an impressive pace, confirming his status as the leader of this new iteration of Germany. But the real star was goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who saved 10 shots, for an excellent 48% saving efficiency, constantly saving his team in crucial moments.
As for the Netherlands, it quickly became apparent they needed more from their supporting cast, having to rely repeatedly on their best scorer, right back Kai Smits, and on their best assist provider, centre back Luc Steins. The two combined for six goals and four assists in the first part of the match, where the Dutch side only boasted a 55% shooting efficiency.
It was clear that they needed more in the second part, which they started three goals down, 12:15, with their future in the competition on the line, a loss meaning that they were eliminated. However, they did not even get close to sniffing the win, as the start of the second half was the pivotal moment of the game.
For nine minutes and 18 seconds, the Netherlands struggled to get their attack going, with the turnovers piling up. And Germany was not going to help their opponents get a free pass, taking a 5:0 run inspired by two goals and an assist from Juri Knorr to create a huge lead, 21:13, which proved to be unassailable.
Eventually, Germany secured a 33:26 win, which saw them progress to the quarter-finals for the first time since the 2019 edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship, with Norway also progressing, due to the two powerhouses creating a four-point lead at the top of the group ahead of the Netherlands and Serbia, with only one match to go.
For the first time since 2003, Germany started the competition with five wins in a row, yet they will still be looking to finish first in the group when they face Norway in the last match of the Group III of the main round in Katowice, needing only a draw to seal that place.
Serbia vs Argentina 28:22
With both teams virtually eliminated from a quarter-final berth contention, Serbia and Argentina faced off in Katowice with two points at stake, which could have contributed to a better finish in the competition provided they were secured.
Yet the sides facing off in the opening match of the day in Group III of the main round at Poland/Sweden 2023 were two of the ones that were playing with the most pride for the shirt, colours and badge, with a fiery clash expected despite the lack of chances for progressing to the knockout phase.
Indeed, Argentina, who had previously lost three of the four matches played at Poland/Sweden 2023, with the only win being against another European opponent, North Macedonia, threw some surprises in the mix as coach Guillermo Milano decided to deploy a seven-on-six attack even from the first attacks.
However, with Serbia, who were still aiming to position themselves to have a fighting chance of qualifying, being dangerous on the fast breaks, Milano toned down his attacking approach.
Yet, Argentina still had some success, taking a 9:8 lead after 22 minutes, with their wings being especially proficient with six goals combined from Francisco Lombardi and Ramiro Martinez.
The only caveat was that Serbia’s defence was hardly the one that had managed good games in the previous matches of the tournament. And when they really turned on the heat, Argentina had serious issues. With a 4:1 run to end the first half, as the South American side scored only once in the last seven minutes and 42 seconds, Serbia took control of the match, 12:10, and entered half-time with a morale boost.
Eventually, Serbia’s defence proved too strong for Argentina, who could only score 12 times in the second half and conceded their fourth loss in five matches in the competition (28:22).
With four points and one match left, Serbia is not eliminated from contention for a quarter-final berth.
