News

Group III: Portugal vs Norway highlight in Giza

20 Jan. 2021

Group III: Portugal vs Norway highlight in Giza

The 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship enters its second phase at the Dr Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Giza with a sumptuous all-European affair ending a day of three games.

Switzerland vs Iceland 16:30 CAT
 
Iceland were left shocked in their first match after they fell to a late run from Portugal to lose their opening Egypt 2021 clash (23:25) with their golden boy of handball Aron Palmarsson watching from the spectator seats due to a pre-championship injury, and other key players Janus Smarason and Haukur Thrastarsson also missing.
 
Iceland are not just reliant on Palmarsson though as they can boast the German Bundesliga top scorer, left wing Bjarki Mar Elisson, and he has helped them progress from the preliminary round for the seventh time in a row with 22 goals.
 
After beating Algeria, but losing to Portugal, Gudmundur Gudmundsson’s side take just two points in the main round where they will face the late arrivals in Switzerland – appearing at their first world championship since 1995.
 
The Swiss were unlucky to take zero points into the main round as they will have felt at least a point, if not two, was lost after they ran France ragged in their final group game on Monday (18 January), only losing in the final seconds. Their solitary win came in their opener, against President’s Cup side Austria.
 
Back in 2004, Iceland beat Switzerland in 31:22 in a friendly, the last time the two teams met.
 
France vs Algeria 19:00 CAT

Algeria coach Alain Portes, who won bronze with France as a player at the 1992 Olympic Games, will be relishing a chance to see his side, known as ‘Les Fennecs’, test themselves against a French side who bring four points into the main round, compared to zero from Portes’ side.
 
One of the key players for Algeria, and known to France, is Abdi Ayoub, who plays his club handball at Fenix ​​Toulouse and who leads Algeria’s scoring, with 17, and their assists, with eight. He was influential in their opening day match, scoring seven to help his side come from behind to defeat Morocco, which, ultimately saw them through to this stage. 2018/19 EHF Champions League winner Khalifa Ghedbane is also a tough barrier to scoring in the Algerian goal.
 
Portes himself has experience as a French national team coach, overseeing the women’s side for a number of years in the 2010s, and his opposite number on the French bench, Guillaume Gille has had to make a squad change already, with goalkeeper Wesley Pardin, who made 18 saves against Norway in their opening day 28:24 victory, suffering a knee injury against Switzerland last time out, which Gille described as “serious”.
 
But Gille has depth in his squad with Vincent Gerard and Yann Genty assuming goalkeeping duties in his place. Timothey N'Guessan is also set to take part after missing the last two games with a slight thigh problem. A win for ‘Les Bleus’ will see them with one foot in the quarter-finals ahead of tougher tests against Portugal and Iceland.
 
“We want to improve ourselves and get better and better and try to reach the best level we can,” said Gille to ihf.info. “It’s always a good sign to win this kind of game (Switzerland) because we didn’t play so well but at the end, we had two points.”
 
France have won their last five meetings against Algeria (and 19 out of 23), their most recent at the 2015 IHF Men’s World Championship in Qatar, 32:26.
 
Portugal vs Norway 21:30 CAT
 
The Portuguese find themselves in the main round for the first time since 2003, a feat achieved before they set a record for their best-ever start to an IHF Men’s World Championship, with three successive wins, including two against North African nations; Morocco, and Algeria.
 
One of their key players has been 23-year-old centre back Miguel Martins, but for Norway, there is no disputing who their king is – centre back Sander Sagosen. The handball superstar has been on fire for the Norwegians with France, Austria, and Switzerland all unable to stop him scoring 30 goals in his three games so far to top the goalscoring charts.
 
One year ago Sagosen and his Norwegian team faced Portugal on home soil at the Men’s EHF EURO 2020 in Trondheim, winning 34:28 in a group where Portugal beat France.
 
“This is another game that we have and that may have a special meaning for us,” said Portugal coach Paulo Pereira to the Portuguese Handball Federation website. “It may be the most difficult of the group, but it can also be the solution to move on to the next stage and we are preparing everything to attack them to win although we know we are going face one of the best teams in the world.
 
“This game for Norway is decisive because they can stay behind us and is of very high risk, since on our side, everything will remain open.”