Egypt started their campaign at the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship with a commanding victory over Australia, thereby collecting their first set of two points on the Group B table. The game was the opener in As Travesas Sports Hall, Vigo, where Groups A and B will play throughout the preliminary round.

 

GROUP B
Egypt vs Australia 44:17 (21:6)

 

Australia kept pace through the first 15 minutes before Egypt’s superior strength began to show, after which the African champions stormed to their first victory at Spain 2019. At the final whistle, a 27-goal gap left no doubt where the two points belonged.

 

Australia goalkeeper Henrik Georges was very strong early in the match, saving at 50% in the first 10 minutes while his side capitalised on the attacking opportunities created by the stops and held the upper hand. However, after 4:4 in the 10th minute, Australia found more difficulty against Egypt’s taller 6-0 defence and the African side were able to create an edge.

 

At the end of the first 15 minutes, Egypt had pulled ahead to 8:5. After scoring their fifth goal in the 12th minute, Australia could not find the goal again until the 21st, and significant damage was done to the score line in that time. With 10 minutes left in the first half and the score at 13:5, 10 Egyptian players had contributed on the score board, while Australia relied heavily on Liam McCourt, who had scored four of their goals.

 

When Egypt took a 21:6 advantage into the break, it was clear Australia had a big task ahead if they were to overcome the deficit. But the African champions are not continental title holders for no reason – they maintained focus and did not halt their efforts until the final buzzer. Egypt coach Tarek Sayed Elsayed did a great job of spreading the workload between his players, and at the whistle, all court players had made their way onto the score board, yet none had scored more than five.

 

Player of the match: Hazem Mamdouh Mohamed, Egypt