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President’s Cup Group I: Angola seek first win on the court

25 Jan. 2021

President’s Cup Group I: Angola seek first win on the court

Tunisia will look to put the disappointment of missing out on a main round place behind them when they face Angola for a spot in the Egypt 2021 25/26 placement match, where the top-placed President’s Cup Group I team will face Austria.

The North African side had maybe the hardest exit from the preliminary round after a narrow two-goal loss against Poland and 33:33 draw with Brazil, but will look to get some court time ahead of their rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament in March where they will face France, Croatia and Portugal.

DR Congo vs Cape Verde 16:30 CAT

Match cancelled due to withdrawal of Cape Verde. DR Congo awarded 10:0 win.

Tunisia vs Angola 19:00 CAT

In this North vs West African clash, Tunisia hold the slightly upper hand, knowing if they avoid defeat then they will top the group and face off for the President’s Cup itself, against Austria.

Angola will be looking for their first Egypt 2021 points after losing all four of their games so far, including most-recently, against DR Congo, who took their first-ever IHF Men’s World Championship win in the opening game of Group I at Dr Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Giza.

The teams met at the 2020 CAHB Men’s African Championship in Tunisia, with the host nation easily dispatching Angola in the semi-finals, winning by 16 goals (39:23). That victory was under previous coach Toni Gerona, with Tunisian coach Sami Saidi replacing him after the final loss against Egypt.

“We are in the President’s Cup which is a big disappointment for us and the Tunisian people because we had planned to play in the main round,” said Saimi after his side dispatched DR Congo 38:22 in their opening game on Saturday (23 January). 

“We have been tired mentally and physically after our three games, but we got our players together to stay focussed, especially as we have a lot of young players.”

One of those young Tunisian players is 23-year-old Mohamed Amine Darmoul, who lies joint 12th in the Egypt 2021 top-scorers list, with 29 goals, while Edvaldo Ferreira has 16 for Angola.

Whoever reaches the final will be playing for 25/26 place and, with the newly-expanded format of 32 teams, Egypt 2021 will be the worst-ever ranking for all seven teams remaining.

For the team which finishes second, a 27/28 placement match against Chile awaits while the team in third will face Morocco.

PHOTO: Egypt 2021