After 17 minutes in which the California Eagles provided a spirited performance against Khaleej Club, the Saudi team bounced back, created two impressive runs, 10:1 and 7:1, running away with the win in the opener of the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, 48:25.

PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP C
California Eagles (USA) vs Khaleej Club (KSA) 25:48 (16:22)

For the first 16 minutes of the match, the California Eagles provided some of the best handball ever displayed by a team from the United States of America at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, with an excellent performance against Khaleej Club, a regular of the competition in the past editions.

The Eagles, coached by former Argentina line player Gonzalo Carou, who did not lead more than two training sessions in person with the team, after being recently appointed before the start of the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, had a fantastic outing in attack, totally outplaying their opponents, scoring 12 goals in the first 16 minutes of the match.

Benedikt Damm had four goals for the Eagles, while goalkeeper Lucas Kroger saved five shots, as Khaleej’s attacking efficiency dropped to a meagre 23%, with nothing working for the Saudi side, which had finished sixth in the previous two editions, forcing their coach, Dimitris Dimitroulias, to call a team time-out.

It was the turning point of the match, as from that moment on, it was all Khaleej, with Dimitroulias finally putting his star player, Bahraini centre back Hussain Al Sayyad, on the court.

Al Sayyad started to dominate, scoring three goals and dishing two assists in the last 14 minutes of the first match, while also forcing a direct red card to Eagles’ defensive mainstay, Ole Vagset Olsen, as Khaleej mounted a spirited comeback.

A 10:1 run for the Saudi side, the AHF Asian Club Championship winners last season, saw Khaleej turn the match on its head, as they scored 13 goals in the last 13 minutes of the first half, four more than they had managed in the previous 17 minutes. 

It went from bad to worse for the Eagles, which conceded nine goals in the first nine minutes of the second half, with the gap ballooning to 13 goals after 39 minutes, 31:18, while Al Sayyad reached the seven-goal mark, with centre back Mujtaba Al Salem adding five more goals and right wing Hassan Al Turaiki four more, as Khaleej had five converted fast breaks by that point.

Before returning to the bench for the last part of the match, Al Sayyad scored one more goal, finishing as the second-best scorer of the match, with eight goals, three goals less than Al Salem, who finished with 11, but that did not prevent Khaleej to score at free will until the end, taking a clear 48:25 win, opening their account at the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship.

It was also Khaleej’s largest win in the history of the competition, beating their previous record of 22 goals, set in the last edition, against the University of Queensland, 48:26, while also tying the largest number of goals scored.

Player of the Match: Hussain Al Sayyad (Khaleej Club)