Al Sadd players celebrate their win over SG Flensburg-Handewitt in the IHF Super Globe semi-final yesterday. PICTURES: Jayaram
It seems that the golden days are back again for Al Sadd.
The former champions, Qatar’s most successful handball club, stormed into the final of the IHF Super Globe 2014 defeating European champions SG Flensburg-Handewitt of Germany 27-26 in dramatic fashion yesterday.
At the newly-built Qatar Handball Association Complex, Sadd stunned the German side with fantastic counter-attack game in the second-half after trailing 11-17 in the first.
Hosts Sadd, who won the Super Globe in 2002 and finished runner-up in 2010, have fallen down the ladder in recent times. But yesterday, they played superbly to register a thrilling come-from-behind victory against Flensburg.
Last 10 minutes of the match proved crucial for Sadd as number of key stops by goalkeepers Yousuf al-Abdulla and Abdelmalik Sladji, four superb attacks from left-winger Abdulaziz al-Shammari and pivot Mario Tomic took the game for the hosts.
However, the decisive moment came when amidst loud cheers from the supporters, Sadd goalkeeper Sladji saved a 59th minute penalty shot from Anders Eggert to hand the hosts a hard-fought win and a place in the final.
Janko Kevic scored eight goals, while Tomic hit the net seven times for the winners.
“When I saw Eggert taking some time to shoot the penalty, I knew he was a bit nervous and I can stop it. I guessed it right and I am happy with the hard-fought victory and hoping for a successful outing in the final,” Sladji said.
Sadd played a great catch-up game in the last 20 minutes after Flensburg had clearly dominated the first-half.
Flensburg’s right wing Lasse Svan was the top scorer for his team with eight goals.
After the 5-4 lead, Flensburg punished Sadd mistakes by fast break goals, leaving the hosts behind 13-7 after only 21 minutes. Even a time-out did not stop the downswing for Qatar team. At the break, there was a six-goal deficit at 17-11.
But Sadd improved and reduced the gap, as Flensburg lacked the determination and speed they had shown earlier and the lead melted to only two goals at 21-19 and eventually to one point.
The arena went crazy, as Sadd took lead for the first time at 25-24 three minutes before the end. And even failing from the penalty spot in the dying minute did not stop Sadd from getting into the finals.
A second before the end, Flensburg wing Eggert seemed to have scored for the equaliser for 27-27, but the referees cancelled the goal due to foot fault.
It was a victory to remember for the large number of Sadd fans.
“On paper, Flensburg were the favourites; they are an excellent team. We spent a lot of time watching them on video and as a result, we played so comfortably, without being stressed and we emerged victorious,” Al Sadd’s coach Mongi Bannani said.
“Our main objective was to reach the second round. We risked with our tactics, because we expected that a team from Europe would find it difficult to adjust their game in our 3-3 defence. Even when we were 5-6 goals down, we stayed focused. We tried hard to stop them from scoring in counterattacks and in many situations we went first to the ball. Our goalkeepers did a fantastic job. We made a dream come true. All 14 players gave everything they had,” he added.
Flensburg coach Ljubomir Vranjes also lauded Sadd for the superb comeback in the match saying, “They were the deserving winners. After playing a good first half, we were poor in the second.”
Earlier in the day, Esperance Sportive de Tunis defeated Al Ahli of Qatar 38-22 in the placement match for the 5th-6th position. Despite a great performance by goalkeeper Ali Sayed in the first half, the Qatari wild-card team had no chance against a powerful and a determined Tunisian side. After missing the semi-finals by a last-second defeat against Sadd, Esperance proved that they were ambitious to make it to the best possible position.
Esperance will take on Pan American champions Handebol Taubate of Brazil, who defeated Sydney University 23-15, for the 5th-6th position today.
Ahli still searching for their first win in the tournament will play for the 7th-8th position against Sydney today.
BELOW:
Al Sadd coach Mongi Bannani (right) with player Jaafar Salman at the post match press conference yesterday.