2 - 8 May 2002
Issue No.584
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 2 - 8 May 2002 Issue No.584 |
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Egypt dethroned
Tunisia up-ended Egypt at the African Nations Handball Cup. Inas Mazhar reports from Casablanca on the new champions and what happened to the old
Tunisia was crowned king of the 15th edition of the African Nations Handball Championship. The new champions beat Algeria 25-19, equalling Algeria for the most number of African trophies at six apiece. Egypt has won it three times.
While the trophy did not leave the domain of North Africa, it did slip away from Egypt, the defending champions, which placed third after beating Morocco 34-25.
The top four teams of the tournament -- Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and hosts Morocco -- qualified for the world championship, to be held in Portugal in January 2003, some solace for the Egyptians after they were ousted by Tunisia in the semi-final 25-19.
The handball Pharaohs were at their worst since their brilliant performance at the world championship in France 2001, which pushed them to fourth in the world.
In Casablanca, the defunct African champions lacked concentration and cohesion against Tunisia, ranked 10th in the world. Their defence was wide open for any and all raids by the Tunisians who avenged their loss to Egypt in the semi- final of the 2000 championship.
"I knew we'll be winners this time," Tunisia's head coach Said Al-Aiari said. "I've been watching the Egyptians since the beginning and saw how unbalanced they were. Their defence was also weak, not at all like what we used to play against."
Egypt's "unbalanced" state could well be attributed to the sacking in mid-tournament of Croatian coach Vladimir Klaitsch, who was replaced by his assistant Mohamed El- Alfi. President of both the Egyptian and international handball federations, Hassan Mustafa, said the federation had been forced to take the decision in order not to risk losing out on the opportunity of qualifying for the world championships.
"If we hadn't sent the coach packing before the quarter- final against Cameroon, we might have lost. The players felt uncomfortable with him around."
Mustafa did not hesitate to admit the federation was at fault in turning a blind eye to Klaitsch's ways. "He treated the players badly," Mustafa said. "He used to give dates for training sessions then suddenly cancel them without consulting anyone. He sidelined El-Alfi and the team manager (Alaa El-Sayed). They knew nothing about the team. Klaitsch wanted to be the one and only boss."
Tunisia's Al-Aiari felt the timing of the sacking was not right. "It was an incorrect decision," he said.
The federation must now look for a new man at the helm. While El-Alfi has been an assistant since 1999, Kurt Nielsen of Denmark, head coach of the Egyptian junior team, is a strong candidate. "However we can't take a quick decision. We have to study the reasons behind this failure in order to plan ahead correctly," Mustafa added.
Morocco, which was attempting to make the finals for the first time, fished fourth. Cameroon beat Nigeria 28-21 for fifth place. Angola crushed Congo RDC 32-18 for seventh while Senegal knocked down Côte d'Ivoire 32-19 for the ninth place.
In the women's game, North Africa did not figure as prominently. Defending champions Angola won the women's final after a 30-21 victory over Côte d'Ivoire. Tunisia was third, beating Algeria 31-20.
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