The Peninsula
Asian champions Qatar will face Argentina in a crucial IHF Men’s World Championships match today, hoping for a win in their final Group II tie in Cairo.
Al Annabi, coached by Valero Rivera, are facing a tricky situation in a possible route to the quarter-finals as only a win will not be enough for Qatar to take them to the next stage.
Qatar, to qualify for the last 8, must win against Argentina, and also hope defending champions Denmark beat Croatia in today’s other match.
In case of a draw between Croatia and Denmark, Qatar must beat Argentina by 3 or more goals.
The Asian champions, who defeated Bahrain in their previous match, are 4th in Group II with 4 points behind Argentina (6 points) and Croatia (5 points). Denmark have already sealed their last-8 spot with 8 points.
“We are prepared well for the coming game against Argentina and I expect it will be a difficult game,” said Qatar left back Rafael Capote.
Meanwhile, hosts Egypt mounted a superb comeback to claim a precious 25-25 draw against Slovenia, in the final Group IV game, yesterday.
The first period ended with Slovenia leading 12:8, largely due to keeper Klemen Ferlin’s extraordinary display in goal, managing 11 saves with second keeper Urban Lesjak coming on to save a 7m throw.
The second period saw Egypt up the ante to catch up with their opponents 10 minutes into the half. The two sides engaged in a tug of war where the lead exchanged hands a number of times with the two teams levelling the score at the end. Egypt have qualified to the quarter-final stage as a result while Slovenia crash out.