Barça 39-29 Zamalek: World finalists!
Barça will play in the Handball Club World Championship final. Carlos Ortega’s side beat Egyptian outfit Zamalek 39-29 on matchday two of the group stage at the New Capital Sports Hall in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital. Ian Barrufet and Ludovic Fabregas, with seven goals each, were Barça’s leading scorers. The Frenchman was also named player of the match.
Zamalek start strong
The Egyptians made the better start and took an early lead (2-4, min 6). But Barça responded quickly and, taking advantage of the red card shown to Hafez for a blow to N’Guessan’s face (min 8), went on a 4-0 run (6-4, min 10). From there, Ortega’s side gradually extended their advantage against a Zamalek team that also had two more players suspended for two minutes in the first half.
Culer control
Sergey Hernández played a key role, making six saves in the first half, including two from penalties. Two consecutive goals from Ludovic Fabregas on Barça’s final two attacks made it 20-12. That meant an eight-goal cushion at the break, with Barça showing impressive efficiency in attack (20 goals from 28 shots).
Carlos Ortega sent Hallgrímsson on in goal for the second half, but the pattern of the game remained much the same. With the lead they had built up in the first half, Barça stayed firmly in control. Indeed, the gap remained very stable and at one stage came close to double figures (32-23, min 51).
Finalists
In the closing stages, the Egyptians put together a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to six goals (32-26, min 53). Two of those goals came from Youssef Ahmed, the game’s top scorer with eight. Barça quickly responded and eventually won by ten, scoring three unanswered goals in the final two minutes to seal a 39-29 victory.
Although there is still one game to play in the group stage, Barça are now mathematically guaranteed to finish top of Group A. They will therefore play in the grand final next Thursday 1 October. Before then, their final group game is against Moroccan side Montada on Tuesday 29 September at 2.30pm CEST.
MATCH STATS
Barça, 39
Zamalek, 29
Barça: Sergey Hernández (-), Aleix (4), Dika Mem (3), Petar Cikusa (3), N'Guessan (2), Frade (6), Dani Fernández (2), Hallgrímsson (-), Smárason (-), Carlsbogard (2), Djordje Cikusa (-), Janc (3), Adrian Sola (-), Elderaa (-), Fabregas (7), Barrufet (7).
Zamalek: Salama (-), Akram Saad (-), Mohamed ElNakkady (-), Ahmed Hafez (1), Hassan Kaddah (4), Shady Ramadan (2), Ali Hassan (-), Mohamed ElBattawi (-), Belal Massoud (3), Ziad Hashad (2), Yahya AlKordy (-), Hesham ElSobky (-), Beegad Ragab (3), Abdelrhman Aly (3), Youssef Ahmed (8), Omar Sadek (2).
Periods: 2-3; 6-4; 10-6; 13-8; 16-10; 20-12 // HT // 22-16; 24-16; 28-20; 31-23; 35-27; 39-29.
Referees: Dino Konjicanin, Amar Konjicanin. Red card for Hafez (Zamalek).