The 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship created a perfect narrative for Yehia Elderaa. The Egypt left back, who left Zamalek SC and signed for Veszprem HC in 2022, returned to home country for the first time as an opponent, as the world club handball flagship competition also returned to Egypt for the first time since 2007.

The narrative also worked well for Veszprem HC. Back after nine years at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, the Hungarian champions secured two wins in their first two matches in the current edition, 43:17 against Handebol Taubate and 34:27 against Zamalek SC, to progress to the semi-finals.

And there, Veszprem’s current coach, Xavi Pascual, the most decorated coach in the history of the competition, who won five titles with Barcelona, will face his former team, in a do-or-die match, with a spot in the final up for grabs. But until Pascual’s emotional evening, Sunday was all about Elderaa.

The 29-year-old left back spent four years at Zamalek SC, becoming a fan favourite, before returning to Europe, where he had previously spent one year at Danish side Ribe Esbjerg HH, in the 2017/18 season. 

But the match against Zamalek, where Elderaa was named the Player of the Match, being cheered throughout the New Administrative Capital Hall by Zamalek’s fans, brought some strong emotions for the left back.

“For sure, it was a hard game. Emotionally more than okay, for sure. In the game also they played really well and I'm really proud of their performance and their character that they have showed,” said Elderaa at the end of the match.

The left back scored three times and dished five assists for Veszprem against some of his former teammates, including veteran right back Ahmed Elahmar, the 40-year-old stalwart who was Elderaa’s teammate in Egypt’s national team, with the two sharing the court when Elderaa was making his first steps for the African powerhouse.

“In the end, it was ok, but for sure you're thinking about your friends when you go play against them. But in the end, when you go to national team or in training, when you're in a professional team, we kill each other, we challenge ourselves to be better. We go hard on ourselves against each other, we challenge each other, because this is how you can grow,” adds Elderaa.

But how can one prepare for such a match, where emotions are still running high?

“For sure, emotionally to prepare it was not that easy. But when the game starts, you're a professional player and you have to fight for your team, which you're loyal to, for sure. So yeah, as you saw, the game was going good for us, it was going well, but they played well and we were fighting until the end,” says Egypt’s left back.

“I'm proud to be back in Egypt, to play at home, play with our spectators, with our fans. So yeah, I'm thrilled, I was overwhelmed and I was really happy to experience this day.”

In the end, everything worked out well for Veszprem, which had the depth and experience to control the match against Zamalek and take a 34:27 win, with a dominating performance, leading from start to finish.

That also meant that the Hungarian side clinched the first place in their group, but had the third best performance between the three group winners in terms of the goal difference, the tiebreaker in case of a tie at points, meaning that they had to face the group winners with the second best performance in the preliminary round.

Therefore, for Veszprem, a match against Barcelona, the most decorated team in the history of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship is on the cards, as the Hungarian side aims to reach the final for the second time, after conceding a loss in their previous appearance, 27:28, against Fuchse Berlin, after extra-time.

“We are here to win the title, that’s for sure. Our first objective was clinched, going to the semi-finals, hopefully we can do better and win the title. This is why we are here,” says Elderaa.

But can Veszprem do it? The ambitions are definitely high, as the Hungarian side named Xavi Pascual, one of the most experienced and decorated coaches in men’s handball, as their head coach this summer. 

“Everything is going well now. We have been together for two months, it’s also a difficult year, after the Olympic Games, where players are quite tired. We are all together trying to achieve bigger stuff than what we achieved for the past two years. We are fighting each day to become stronger and to become better,” concludes Elderaa.