OUT OF MY WAY: Action from the semi-final clash between El Jaish (white) and Barcelona in the IHF Super Globe meet at the Gharafa Indoor Hall yesterday. Picture: Anas Khalid
By Yash Mudgal/Doha
FC Barcelona will face European champions HSV Hamburg in the final of the IHF Super Globe today after their victory over wildcard entrants, Qatari outfit El Jaish, yesterday, setting up a rematch of the European Champions League final, with Barcelona denying that they want revenge.
The eight-time European champions defeated Jaish 40-31, while the German Club defeated African champions Etoile Sportive du Sahel 36-22 in the semi-finals at the Gharafa Indoor Hall.
Barcelona’s Rutenka Siarhei scored six goals, while Garci Juanin, Tomas Victor and Raul Entrerrios netted five each. For Jaish, Mosbah Sanai was the top scorer with three strikes.
Hamburg’s 30-29 win over Barcelona in Cologne in June 2013 meant the German club won the European Champions League for the first time, but Barcelona, playing for the first time in the
championship, are viewing the Super Globe showdown as a yardstick, rather than payback.
“To win the Super Globe is the most important thing for us now, not our rivals. This is not about revenge for the Champions League loss.
“For us, it is a good test to know where we stand, but we won’t base our motivation on the fact that we lost in Germany,” said Barcelona coach Xavier Pascual.
Hamburg, who were boosted by the late arrival (on Wednesday) of last season’s top-scorer Hans Lindberg, played superbly in the first half.
Lindberg scored four goals from the right wing before the break—but the main reason for their 16-9 lead after 30 minutes was their extraordinary defence.
Hamburg built up a solid wall, which included their goalkeeper Marcus Cleverly, who saved an incredible number of 13 Sahel shots in the first half—and an overall of 23.
Helped by their defence, Hamburg took the initial lead and were away by four goals for the first time at 10:6, causing a time-out for Tunisian coach Sami Saidi. But his team hardly managed to get through the German side’s defence, except Ali Zeinelabedin, who was the best Sahel scorer with seven goals.
“Everybody knows that the co-operation between defence and goalkeeper is the most important thing in handball and that was the key to our success today. We are really happy to be in the final. We had great respect for the Tunisians, but in the end, we were the better team,” Hamburg coach Martin Schwalb said.
On his part, Etoile Sportive du Sahel coach Sami Saiodi said, “Hamburg were perfectly prepared for us and showed a strong goalkeeping and defence performance.”
“It was like running against a wall for us and we proudly congratulate Hamburg for their performance,” Sahel right-winger Mohamed Tajouri added.
Earlier in the day, Pan-American club champions Taubate beat Oceania representatives Sydney University 28-14.
The Brazilian side will take on Asian champions Rayyan in the 5/6 placement match today, while the Australians would aim to register their first ever victory in the history of the tournament in the 7/8 placement match against former champions Al Sadd.
In an all-Qatari duel, Rayyan secured their first win in the championship, defeating Al Sadd 32-19. Vasilli Filipov and Al Erebi netted 11 and seven goals for the winners, while Abdullah al-Karbi and Selvedi Omahic netted six and four goals for last year’s bronze medallists.
“It was a very bad game for us, but I think it was a good lesson as we are prepearing for our next domestic season,” Sadd coach Arrouche Lakhdar said.
“We were really bad today. We played really well in the group stage but today it was simply not our day. We will give our best against Sydney,” Sadd player Mario Tomic said.
Rayyan coach Iljia Puljevic said: “We started bad, but we found our rhythm as the match progressed. After the loss against Taubate it was difficult for us to recover but we found the way. Sadd tried to change his tactics in the second half but we were well prepared unlike in the match against the Brazilians.”
Rayyan’s Mohammed Yousuf al-Muhazaa said, “We did well today; it was probably our best match in the tournament. We found our form late but this was not a surprise for me since we had only four weeks to prepare for this tournament.”
