After a seven-year absence, Zamalek return to the IHF Men’s Super Globe with the goal of building on what has been a strong year for Egyptian handball. Currently featuring some of the biggest stars of the Egypt national team playing in Africa, Zamalek are the second most successful club in their national league’s history, having won 15 domestic titles – including the 2018/19 season trophy. 

Zamalek qualified for the Super Globe winning the Africa Men’s Super Handball Cup play-off versus fellow Egyptian side Al Ahly. The match-up pitted Zamalek, the winners of the African Handball Champions League 2018 winners against Al Ahly, the African Handball Cup Winners’ Cup champions. 

The play-off for a spot in the Super Globe was a thrilling match, which required extra time to decide the winner. Zamalek recorded a 38:35 victory at the end of the 70 minutes, following a score of 27:27 after 60 minutes and a 13:11 lead for Al Ahly at half-time. 

“Egyptian handball has been improving and we want to keep moving on this path. This tournament will have many strong teams participating in it and I think it’s a good test to see where we stand as a team before we start our season,” says left back Yehia Elderaa, who is also a member of the Egypt national team that finished eighth at the IHF Men’s World Championship for the first time since 2001 in January. 

After the successful campaign of the men’s senior squad, the U-21 national team reached the semi-finals at the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship in July, securing the bronze medal and ending a 20-year wait for another piece of silverware won at this competition. Just one month later, the U19 national team raised the trophy at their World Championship. 

“Of course, our goal is to reach the finals, so we have to put a lot of effort and dedication,” says Elderaa. 

At the 2019 IHF Super Globe, Zamalek will meet the winner of the THW Kiel vs Sydney University Handball Club play-off in the quarter-final. 

“We will wait to see our opponents, Kiel or Sydney. We won’t put any expectations to this game. It will be a tough match, but this is handball – anything can happen,” continues Elderaa. “We have to have the spirit to win and make less mistakes to keep up with the game against such strong teams. We are excited to see how it will go.” 

Key players: Ahmed Elahmar (right back), Yehia Elderaa (left back)

Qualification for 2019 IHF Men’s Super Globe: Africa Men’s Super Handball Cup winners 
 
History in tournament: 1997-2007: DNQ, 2010: 3rd, 2011: 4th, 2012: 4th, 2013-2018: DNQ

Quarter-final at 2019 IHF Men’s Super Globe: 
Zamalek (EGY) vs winner of quarter-final qualification: Sydney University Handball Club/THW Kiel
28 August 2019, 14:30 local time