SC Magdeburg opened yet another title defence campaign at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship with a big win, 57:21, against the California Eagles, with the German side tying their best output in the first half of a match in the competition, scoring 28 goals in the first 30 minutes.

GROUP C
SC Magdeburg (GER) vs California Eagles (USA) 57:21 (28:14)

While the California Eagles were at their first appearance at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, SC Magdeburg were entering the current edition, the first one hosted in Egypt since 2007, as the champions of the previous three editions, having a 12-match winning streak.

Therefore, despite the German side’s unusual slow start of the season, with three losses in seven matches, Magdeburg were simply overwhelming favourites in this match, one which they took seriously, as coach Bennet Wiegert was constantly pacing in front of the bench, pushing his team in both attack and defence.

Magdeburg’s gameplan was simple: force as many errors from their opponents and deliver efficient blows on the fast breaks which ensued and it was one which worked wonders, especially when they turned to a more aggressive 5-1 defence, with their new signing, left back Antonio Serradilla as the most advanced defender.

Until the break, when Magdeburg tied their record output from the last edition in the first half of a match, 28 goals scored against the University of Queensland, Seradilla and left wing Lukas Mertens had combined already for 17 goals, more than the Eagles scored until that point.

The American team delivered once again a good performance in the first half for their evel, but the story from the first match repeated itself in the second part, when Magdeburg ran riot and delivered another flawless attacking performance, scoring almost one goal per minute.

While against the University of Queensland they stopped at 57 goals, this time around they also scored 57 goals, with Mertens finishing with 16 goals and Garcia Seradilla following suit with 13 goals, as right wing Isak Persson added nine more, combining for 38 of Magdeburg’s 57 goals.

Eventually, the German side, which conceded only seven goals in the second half, jumped to 57:21  win, their second largest win in history at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, after the 43-goal drubbing against Queensland. Mertens also had the second best individual performance in history in a single match, with 16 goals, with the record set by Magdeburg’s right wing Daniel Pettersson, 

With their win, Magdeburg secured their 13th consecutive win in the competition and will now face Khaleej Club in the battle for the first place in the group, which automatically sees the winner through to the semi-finals.

The Eagles, which have conceded at least 48 goals in each match so far at the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, will finish third in their group, heading to the Placement Matches, despite showing some promise in parts of the matches, especially in the first half, when they provided some excellent handball.

Player of the Match: Antonio Seradilla Cuenca (SC Magdeburg)