After a thrilling day of eighth-finals at the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, the top eight teams – six of which qualified for this stage with a victory of just one goal – are set for the quarter-finals. Two teams that reached this point with such wins, Egypt and Norway, will play the first quarter-final in As Travesas Sports Hall in Vigo, before Portugal meet Slovenia. 

Prior to the quarter-finals, the second round of the President’s Cup will open the day, with the USA meeting Argentina to decide 21st place and Japan taking on Bahrain in the 17/18 play-off. Two matches in the 9-16 placement round will follow. In Vigo, Brazil and Sweden will play for 11th and Iceland and Serbia will fight for 13th on the final ranking. 

QUARTER-FINAL
Feature match: Egypt vs Norway
As Travesas Sports Hall, 18:45 local time

Egypt have the chance to extend their impressive recent history at the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship when they play Norway in the first quarter-final in Vigo. The African champions have reached the semi-finals at three of the last five editions of the championship, always placing fourth. 

One of those teams featured the older brother of the current U21 generation’s centre back, Seif Elderaa. His brother Yehia Elderaa, was part of the 2015 team that played the bronze-medal match but lost to Germany in extra time. Seif Elderaa will be key for Egypt from his playmaker position. He has scored 17 goals, but more importantly, has recorded 14 assists at Spain 2019. 

Four players have scored more goals than Elderaa, with Omar Sami Dahroug the most notable considering he has missed just one shot in the entire championship, and tallies 21 strikes. No player ranks among the top scorers of the competition however, demonstrating the strong team effort it has taken to reach this stage. At the other end of the court, Egypt can rely on the goalkeeper with the fifth-most saves at Spain 2019 – Abdelrhman Taha Ali, who has stopped 52 shots. 

Egypt bring considerable individual quality into the quarter-final, and have a solid line-up that affords rotation throughout the game. With a perfect record so far at the World Championship, they are also confident that they have what it takes to reach the penultimate stage.

Egypt qualified for the quarter-final with a one-goal win against Serbia, 30:29. 

“The match has been in the top category. Nothing was decided until the last second, and we are very happy with the final result. We had thoroughly prepared for this match,” said Egypt’s Khaled Walid Ibrahim. Now the question is, can Egypt overcome Norway?

For Norway, reaching the quarter-finals is quite a moment. The last time they contested this stage of the Men’s Junior World Championship was in 1995. It is already a huge leap for the squad that placed 17th at the 2017 Youth World Championship – but naturally, they do not want their dream to end just yet. 

Like Egypt, and five other teams, Norway edged their eighth-final opponents by just one goal scored in the final seconds. The Scandinavian team defeated Brazil after an extraordinary match, which saw the Pan American team pull ahead by seven in the first half, a one-goal distance at half-time, and then Norway take a six-goal advantage in the second period before the dramatic finish. 

“It was a very tough game from the mental side, because we were losing 3:10 in the first half,” said Norway coach Joar Gjerde. “Then we put a six-goal lead in our favour in the second half and Brazil got back into the game, but we were able to score a goal at the end. It is difficult to value. It was a very adrenaline match, and we are very happy to reach our first quarter-finals (for this generation). Now we have to forget about this game and fight to play the semi-finals.”

Norway’s match was a touch later than Egypt’s, therefore, they will enter the match with a little less rest. 

Rematch of 2018 EURO semi-final

The other quarter-final in Vigo, throwing off at 21:00, will see a rematch of the U20 EHF EURO 2018 semi-final between Slovenia and Portugal. Last summer, Slovenia won the game 27:25 on the path to the title. Slovenia have had a stronger campaign than Portugal at Spain 2019, with a perfect record of wins. Will they extend it on Thursday? 

Prior to the quarter-finals, two placement matches will be played, between sides defeated in the eight-final stage. Brazil will play Sweden for 11th place at 14:15 local time, and Iceland will take on Serbia at 16:30 local time in the 13/14 play-off.

The day in Vigo will open with the President’s Cup games to decide places 17/18 and 21/22. The USA will start at 9:45 local time, playing Argentina in the 21/22 game. At 12:00, Japan will take on Bahrain to decide 17th. 

Photos: Juan Luis Recio/Spain 2019