The national handball team, led by the Spanish coach David Davis, will begin its path in the second-round matches of the 26th Handball World Cup to play against the Qatari team on Sunday at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen. The championship is being held in Denmark and Germany from 10 to 27 January.
The Pharaohs are trying to repeat the France World Cup scenario by beating Qatar in order to compensate the loss to Sweden on Friday, which ended with a 27-24 score at the same arena.
The first half saw Sweden up with a 11-13 score with a remarkable performance from the Egyptian goalkeeper Karim Hendawy. Yehia El-Deraa and Yehia Khaled also performed well in the second half.
The Egyptian team is now ranked sixth, and last, in its group with zero points. Sweden is ranked first with two points, Angola with two points as well, after beating Qatar which ranks fifth with no points, followed by Argentina in the third place, Hungary in fourth after the two teams reached a draw of 25-25 to win one point each. Egypt still has a good chance to qualify, having yet to play against Qatar, Hungary, Argentina, and Angola.
The Pharaohs are in Group D in Denmark playing alongside Qatar, Argentina, Hungary, Angola, and Sweden.
The top three teams from the four groups will qualify to the next round, and will be divided into two groups, and each group will be arranged according to each team’s points from the first round. The first two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals, then they meet to compete in the final.
The current squad consists of 18 players namely, Karim Handawy (Turkey Beşiktaş) and Mohamed El-Tayar both as goal keepers; Yahia Omar (Zamalek); Eslam Eissa (Al Ahly); Ahmed Khairy (Al Ahly); Mohamed Maher (Al Gazira); Ibrahim El-Masry (Al Ahly); Abdelrahman Abdou (Al Ahly); Omar El-Wakil (Al Ahly); Yehia El-Deraa (Zamalek); Akram Saad (Zamalek); Ahmed El-Ahmar (Zamalek); Mohamed Shebib (Montpellier Handball); Ali Zeinelbaedin (Sharjah); Mohamed Sanad (USAM Nîmes Gard), and Karim Abdelrahim (Zamalek).
The Zamalek goalkeepers Mohamed Ali and Baher Al Badrawi are still waiting for any call to travel during the tournament. Injury has left the trio Aboul Fotouh Hamasa, Aly Hesham, and Ahmed Moamen away from the pitch.
