25 April - 1 May 2002
Issue No.583
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 25 April - 1 May 2002 Issue No.583 |
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Half-time
Stronger up north
North African teams are dominating the African Handball Nations Cup. Inas Mazhar reports from Casablanca
Defending champions Egypt whacked Senegal 37-21 and barely got by Nigeria 25- 24 to move within one game of a semi-final berth in the African Handball Nations Cup.
Egypt was scheduled to meet Cameroon yesterday and "if all goes well, Egypt will go on to the semi-final and then win the African trophy for the second consecutive year," Hussein Labib, head of the Egyptian delegation, predicted. "However, there is a possibility of surprises."
The upsets that Labib is concerned about do not appear to be forthcoming. So far, the results of the championship, being played in Morocco, suggest that North African Maghreb teams continue to dominate the game on the continent and that other Africans are still trying to catch up, but they are improving rapidly.
"The African countries are improving," Vlamir Klaitsch, Egypt's head coach, said. "Anybody can play handball now and any minor team can beat the world champions. We shouldn't underestimate these teams because they enjoy fitness and speed, two important factors. However, the Egyptians are much better in tactics.
But Klaitsch warned the Egyptians about lack of concentration and over-confidence. "That might lead to a defeat. If we underestimate our opponents then that might encourage them, which happened against Senegal and Nigeria."
Egypt's opening two matches illustrated all too well what Klaitsch meant. Though Senegal is new to the game and although the 16-goal margin of victory was as big as it gets in handball, Egypt did not play with the skill and depth that have propelled it to fourth in the world.
On Monday against Nigeria, a country with a longer handball history than Senegal's but nowhere near a powerhouse, Egypt's victory by a solitary goal persuaded few observers that the country can retain the title.
Should it continue along this path of poor performances, a trophy in the end cannot be guaranteed. "It will not be easy," said Mohamed El-Alfi, assistant coach. "We came here for two main reasons: to qualify for the world championships (scheduled to take place in Portugal next year, the event will take the top four teams in Morocco) and to win the African trophy for the second year in a row."
"I know it was a modest start at the beginning but that is always the case," El-Alfi added. "We usually save our best for the more important games. In any event, we are better. We have a combination of talented experienced players."
According to the draw -- and if everything goes according to the script -- Egypt will meet Tunisia in the semi-final tomorrow while Algeria will take on hosts Morocco.
"The Tunisians are our main challengers," El-Alfi said. "They are very strong this time and our matches are usually dramatic."
Tunisia is 10th in the world and, in Said Al-Airi and Said Bin Emara, it has a coaching staff of the highest order. "We know them and they know us and meeting in a semi-final would be like playing an early final," El-Alfi added, alluding to a similar scenario two years ago in Algeria when Egypt beat Tunisia in the semi-finals.
Twelve men's teams and nine women squads are participating in the 16th edition of the African Nations Cup. "For the first time in its history, all teams that said they were coming actually came, save Senegalese women," said Yapo Christophe, president of the African Handball Federation. "This makes the event the biggest of them all."
The men's event in the 10-day championship is taking place in Casablanca while the women are in Rabat. The women's semi- finals and final will move to Casablanca on 26 April. The play-off for third and fourth places will be played on Saturday while the final will be held on Sunday.
The men were divided into four groups of three teams each. Two teams qualified for the second round which was to have started yesterday and is continuing today. After the first round, Morocco and Congo qualified from Group A after Morocco routed Congo DR 39-23 in the opening match, then beat Congo 38-19. Algeria and Angola qualified from Group B after the Algerians beat the Angolans 34-24. Egypt and Nigeria qualified in Group C while Tunisia and Cameroon made it to the top of Group D after the Tunisians smashed Gabon 36-13 and Cameroon 27-19.
This year the African federation applied the new rule in which 14 players can be used instead of 12. "That's great for us," El-Alfi said, "and, I think, others benefited as well. We have two players of equal strength for every position so we can change as we wish during matches and give the other players the opportunity to rest."
Head coach sacked
Following Egypt's poor showing at the African Handball Nations Cup in Casablanca, Russian head coach Vladimir Klaitsch was fired on Tuesday and replaced by assistant coach Mohamed El- Alfi.President of the Egyptian Handball Federation Hassan Mustafa told a news conference that he was not pleased with the team which, he added, "was staring an early exit in the face."
"I know we were winning but we will not be able to defend the title this way and with this unbalanced performance," Mustafa said. "I took the decision after consulting all parties."
Hassan said that after the consultations he was concerned about losing not only the title "but our African reputation as well."
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