Group C: All-Asian battle for main round berth

17 Jan. 2021

Group C: All-Asian battle for main round berth

Alexandria saw one of the biggest surprises so far in this World Championship when 2020 AHF Men’s Asian Championship bronze medallists Japan drew with Men's EHF EURO 2020 silver medallists Croatia on the first matchday in Group C. In an all-Asian clash, Japan have the opportunity to not only beat Qatar for the first time in recent years, but to also move on to the main round for the first time. 

Qatar vs Japan 16:30 CAT

It has been an excellent start to the 27th IHF Men's World Championship in Egypt for both Asian teams as reigning Asian Champions Qatar made amends against Angola winning 30:25 and Japan took a surprising but well-deserved 29:29 draw against group favourites Croatia.

Qatar and Japan know each other very well as they have crossed path several times in recent years. 

“The last six years we didn’t lose any match against Japan, but they improved from tournament to tournament. At the 2020 Asian Championship in January, we lost the first half to Japan but eventually won the match with eight goals,” said Qatar goalkeeper Danijel Saric. “We expect a hard match and I hope we can add another two points after this game.”

Boasting with confidence, chances might have never been higher for Japan to proceed to the main round. If they beat Qatar, they will secure a main round berth after just the second match, which would be a lovely birthday present for right back Jin Watanabe who turns 31 today. 

Angola vs Croatia 19:00 CAT

Despite the disappointing performance from Croatia in their opening game against Japan, their experience helped them to secure a lucky point at the end with an Ivan Cupic equaliser penalty shot just seconds before the final buzzer. 

Today, they can secure a place in the main round with a win against Angola. It will be the first-ever encounter between the African side and Croatia. Rome Hebo, Angola centre back, was very disappointed after the match against Qatar, saying, “we wanted to win this match but we only had 15 good minutes, after that, we lost too many one-against-one duels.” 

They now have to face Croatia who are focused to get back to their winning ways and won’t underestimate underdogs Angola.

“We know that Croatia is one of the best teams but we will do our best,” said Angola coach Braz Adelino ahead of the match.