Alkass Digital
Qatar’s handball squad is set to play a friendly today in a clash that will be the first of a series of matches ahead of the 2021 IHF World Championship to be held in Egypt next month.
Though the first friendly today is against Al Arabi - which won the Amir Cup four weeks ago - Director of National Teams Youssef Al Hail said in an interview the squad has benefited from the extensive training sessions conducted by coach Valero Rivera.
Qatar are set to play two international games in the coming weeks before featuring in a Four-Nation Series involving Spain, Argentina and Tunisia at the end of this month. The Four-Nation Series will be held from Dec 25-29 at Duhail Indoor Sports Hall.
The 2021 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship will be held from Jan 13 to 31 in Egypt. “The national team is preparing for the World Championship through training camp based in Doha. This is not usual before the world championships because going for overseas camps is always best when it comes training sessions, attending lectures, developing a proper sleep pattern and looking after nutrition,” Al Hail said.
“But the COVID-19 situation imposed challenges on all of us and that did not allow us to establish an external camp,” he added.
“It is a real challenge given the circumstances but despite all that, we are continuing to work hard, to prepare with ambition,” he added in an interview. Al Hail praised coach Rivera in developing a ‘quality squad’ in the last few years.
“Valero Rivera is undoubtedly a world-class coach and is vastly experienced. He is always striving to renew the national team by including young players and new faces so that there is enthusiasm in the squad. He wants players with ambition and we hope that this development will be reflected at the national team level,” Al Hail.
The Director of National Teams admitted next month’s 32-team World Championship presented a tough challenge.
“The competition in the World Cup is different from the Asian Championship (which Qatar won earlier this year). Rather, it is stronger and more difficult than the capabilities of European teams, but despite this we know that our World Cup group is not difficult and there would no excuse for players not to provide a good level and reach the second round,” Al Hail said.
Qatar are in third group of 2021 World Championship along with Angola, Japan and Croatia.
Regarding the preparations ahead of the Four-Nation Series, Al Hail said in the interview published in Arabic daily Al Watan: “There will be three friendly matches against the club teams. And then we play in the Four-Nation Series. We have ambition to continue achieving advanced positions at all event we take part in.”
He pointed out that the national team’s preparations for the 2021 World Cup ‘are proceeding according to plan despite the difficulties imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have been training daily helping the players get ready for friendly and then the Four-Nation Series. We are looking at our performance at the World Cup because we Qatari handball teams have achieved a lot over the years. We hope that our successes will continue. We know that the task will not be easy, but we have full confidence in our team,” Al Hail said.