In good hands?

Jorn-Uwe Lommel

GERMAN Jorn-Uwe Lommel arrived in Egypt last week but has had little time for sightseeing. The 45-year-old coach, who signed a one-year contract to train the Egyptian national handball team, has only two months to get Egypt into the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens Inas Mazhar profiles Egypt's new handball coach .

To qualify for the Games, Egypt, along with Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, will do battle in Tunisia in September in a round- robin format. Only one team, that which finishes first, will go to Athens.

It is the first time that Egypt must go through qualifiers for the Olympics since it entered the world's elite top eight, 10 years ago. During that stretch it qualified automatically after finishing sixth, seventh and fourth respectively in the World Championships. But last year, in Portugal, Egypt ended up a dismal 13th, ending its privileged status.

The president of both the international and Egyptian handball federations, Hassan Mustafa, said the poor health of Mohamed El-Alfi, coach for the past three years, had forced him to seek a new man at the helm.

Lommel said that he was aware of the importance of the qualifications, adding that he will "work hard to lead the Pharaohs to victory".

Lommel's assignment in Egypt is his first with a national team but he said it made no difference. "You all know how strong the German Bundesliga is as it includes the best players in the world. You cannot afford to lose. I have trained clubs that have as many as 10 players of various nationalities who are all internationals back home," he told reporters at a press conference at the federation's headquarters on Saturday.

Lommel will see more of the team in a four-day friendly tournament in Japan beginning today. "I have been in Egypt for only a week. I've seen the team train twice and trained them myself twice. Now, I'll see them play in Japan. But my real work will start after our return. I will set up a plan for the coming period."

The 45-year-old coach played for 12 years in the German league before turning to coaching several famed German clubs, notably Tusem Essen, Neidr Weirtseing and Greishuber. He has also trained several world renowned players, including Russian goalkeeper Andre Lavarov and Sweden's Stefan Olsson.