Issue No. 611
Sports
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7 - 13 November 2002 Issue No. 611 Sports |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Half-time
Half - time: Hand in hand
Last Sunday, the Egyptian handball team placed seventh in the eight-team World Cup that took place in Sweden. The result instigates many questions and concerns; the most important probably being the question of whether the championship outcome could mark the beginning of Egyptian handball's downfall from the international map?
The result marked the poorest display of handballs by the Egyptians in their third appearance in the championship -- which started in 1971. In what had been their first appearance in the World Cup in 1996 (it's sixth round), the Egyptian national team showed off a strong performance and accordingly clinched the fourth place. Then, in 1999 (it's eighth round), they placed sixth. And now, three years later, in the event's ninth round, they have dropped another notch, to seventh place.
The World Cup is the second biggest event in the game. It was created by the Swedes in 1971, and they have played host to the event ever since. The main idea behind the event was for it to act as a preparation opportunity, and as a pre-tournament to the World Championships and Olympic Games. The eight qualified participants are usually the top eight teams in the previous World Championship. Since its creation, only nine rounds of the event were held -- an irregularity which may be rectified given the organising committee's current discussion about fixing a date for the event every two years.
This year's tournament served as a pre-tournament for the World Championship in Portugal next January. It was a perfect warm-up for the eight teams before the great event. The Egyptians, however, disappointed us with their unacceptably modest performances -- winning only one game in the five matches the team played in the one--week event. Egypt -- ranked fourth in the previous World Championship in France 2001 -- lost the opening match against unseeded Denmark 37- 26. What a surprise and uncharacteristic display. Maybe, fans thought, it was a shaky start -- as sometimes has been the case -- and things would get better later. Certainly all of us back home following the championship on TV assumed it was initial championship jitters. But, the second game was lost against the hosts Sweden 25-23. Maybe because they were playing against the home team, we thought again trying to give the team a convincing excuse. The third game was against the World champions, France, and again Egypt was beaten 33-25. So they are the World champions, we once again consoled and convinced ourselves.
No wins in the preliminary round meant Egypt came bottom of the group, and would be playing in the classification play-offs for a spot in the fifth to the eighth bracket. Another chance to stay in the event. But the disappointment continued, and the losing streak as well, and they lost to Yugoslavia 32-30 to meet Iceland in a play-off for the seventh and eighth places. The team finally woke-up, recognising, it appeared, that they couldn't face the public with a last place spot, and that they needed to pull a quick, fast fix to save their faces from humiliation. We were sceptical about the odds, but surprisingly, the team accomplished its sole victory in the event, beating Iceland 32-26 and snatching seventh place. Oh, well done!
Why did this happen and what does it mean? Millions of Egyptian fans are questioning the status of the team not only because of the defeats, modest performances, poor results, but also, because of the future of the team and its chance to recuperate for the World Championships just two months away. We are not ready to hear excuses about biased referees, and that we are hiding our so-called "real" level because we are meeting some of these teams in the coming World Championships and don't want to reveal our real standard. Sorry, but this time, these excuses are unacceptable.
We are told that discussing the team's technical faults is off limits, but they most certainly do exist. Even non-professionals and fans could notice that. It's not only about their tactics; something definitely weird is going on with the team. Do the game's officials recognise that or not?
Personally, I've toured the world with the team since I first entered the sports journalism field at the start of the 1990s -- coincidentally also the start of the Egyptian national team's streak of victories, their penetration into the international arena, and their leap into the world's top ten. It has been almost ten years since then. Players have come and gone, matches have been won and lost, and many changes of course have taken place. One thing, however, has remained the same throughout: The spirit of the team has always remained. The reputation of the team grew rapidly and international titles were gained; as were respect and fame across the globe. The team earned itself the reputation of the terrifying Pharaohs. The world's greatest teams -- including those we have lost to -- have all tasted the bitterness of defeat from the so-called Pharaohs. Every team knew that it was never an easy ride, and they all planned well before meeting us in both large and small clashes. Out of fear. Recently, however, I noticed that the team's trademark fighting spirit has faded, and that the team seems to be stumbling and about to fall.
In 2000, we reached our top form with the same coach -- Yugoslav Zoran -- who led us to the African championship title in Algeria and then to the fourth place in the 2001 World Championship in France. That was our peak. Logically, we were expected to continue climbing, or at the very least maintain our success. But it was the contrary that happened: The coach was suddenly changed and we started losing international friendlies and championships. The biggest, and most humiliating loss came last April, when we failed to defend our African title and lost it to the Tunisians in Morocco. The coach was sacked. We were then told that the Egyptian Handball Federation should reconsider its policy since we were eight months ahead of the World Championship. Zoran was back. But the losses continued and the results of his four months of work with the team are clear to everybody.
And now, it is only two months until the World Championship, and we are in quite a mess. Should we psychologically prepare ourselves to be kicked out of the world's top ten -- an area we have been occupying for the past seven years in both the World Championships and the Olympic Games. I believe that the federation has a heavy task in the coming two months. There is no time for reports and investigations around the failure. Hard work should start immediately. The mistakes must be recognised, worked on, and rectified immediately. The Egyptian Handball Federation has proved to us several times that it is the bravest sports federation in Egypt; able to admit its failures and mistakes and quickly fix them. It is admirable in that it is a federation that works more than talks and promises. And that's what we expect them to continue to do for the sake of the game, because we cannot afford further deterioration in the World Championship. Such a catastrophe would mark the end of one of the most popular games in Egypt, and the only team sport that has brought remarkable achievements in the nation's sports history. The key will be for the team to look ahead, think positive, put the past behind them, and go for the best.
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