Al-Ahly bounced back after the loss against FC Barcelona, and made it to the Placement Match 5/6, after dominating Kuwait SC, 35:25, in a match they led from start to finish.

PLACEMENT MATCHES 5–8
Al-Ahly (EGY) vs Kuwait SC (KUW) 35:25 (16:12)

After conceding a painful loss against Barcelona, Al-Ahly’s dreams of back-to-back semi-finals at the IHF Men’s Super Globe were up in the air, but the Egyptian side was still aiming to finish as high as possible, which means the fifth place in this edition of the competition. But for that, a balanced match against Kuwait SC was on the cards, as the Kuwaiti side did deliver some excellent performances in their first two matches.

Abdelrahman Taha was Al-Ahly’s hero in the first 25 minutes of the match, boasting a saving percentage of over 50%, with some excellent saves, including two out of three in one-on-one situations, but also in strong shots from Kuwait’s back line, frustrating his opponents with nine saves.

This enabled Al-Ahly to create a six-goal lead, 14:8, after 25 minutes, as wing Abdelaziz Ashour and back Ahmed Rady combined for six goals in the first half. However, not everything was done and dusted, as experienced backs Frankis Marzo and Angel Hernandez delivered seven goals between them to cut the gap to only four goals at the break, 16:12, with everything still in play for the second half.

The final blow from Al-Ahly came in the form of a 9:2 run, with right back Mohsen Ramadan scoring four of those nine goals, which helped the gap grew to 10 goals, 26:16. From that moment on, there was no chance for Kuwait to bounce back, despite a good display from Marzo, who scored nine goals, jumping to the fifth place in the top goal scorer standings, with 17 goals in three matches.

On the back of a superb display from Taha, who finished the match with 18 saves for a 42% saving efficiency, Al-Ahly delivered their second win in three matches at the 2023 IHF Men’s Super Globe, 35:25, proving that their painful loss against Barca was just a blip on the radar.

Al-Ahly, which finished second, fourth and fifth in their previous appearances at the IHF Men’s Super Globe, will now be able to face the winner from the match between Khaleej and Al-Najma in the battle for the fifth place, while Kuwait head to the Placement Match 7/8, having secured their best-ever finish in the competition.

hummel Player of the Match: Abdelrahman Taha (Al-Ahly)