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There was never a dull moment in the game, which was befitting a final. The capacity holiday crowd that thronged the Qatar Handball Association Sports Complex was left asking for more, but so did Al Sadd. |
Once a powerhouse handball club in the region, Al Sadd have slipped down the radar and yesterday was their chance to set the record straight. But much to their disappointment, the Qatari club failed to end their 12-year wait for the IHF Super Globe trophy, after going down to Barcelona 26-34 in the final, with the Spanish team defending their title.
This was also the second time Al Sadd had finished runner-up, after they did so in 2010. The five-time Asian champions were never the favourites going into the final, after they were beaten by Barcelona in the league stage 25-34. But they were not going to bow out without a fight.
There sure were nerves at the start, as Sadd allowed Barcelona to jump into an early 3-0 lead. In fact, the hosts opened their account only in the fifth minute. While they did narrow down the gap, Sadd never managed to draw level or take the lead. Amine Bannour, who played a key role in taking his team to the final, was at the forefront again scoring four times as Al Sadd were breathing down the Spanish team’s neck at 9-12. However, with left-back Siarhei Rutenka and right-back Eduardo Gurbindo in prime nick, Barcelona kept forging ahead.
Sadd, though, struck in the last five minutes, scoring three consecutive goals as they trailed Barcelona by just two at 15-16 at half-time.
Post-interval, Al Sadd brought down the lead to just one point. But Barcelona, as with all world-class teams, took their game to another level when pushed to the wall. From 19-18, the Catalans made it to 19-24 with some aggressive counter-attacking as Al Sadd buckled under pressure.
Al Sadd players pose with the runner-up trophy and
Qatar Handball Association president
Ahmed Mohammed al-Shaabi, and other officials.
Al Sadd coach Mongi Bannani called for a time-out to change the momentum of the match and also replaced the goalkeeper, bringing in Yousuf al-Abdulla for Abdelmalik Slahdji. Al Sadd did fight hard, but against the quality of Barcelona and their superior bench strength, the hosts were always made to play a chasing game.
As the game entered the final stretch, the raucous crowd rallied behind Al Sadd, cheering al-Abdulla’s save with same intensity as when they scored. But with fatigue setting in and not much left in the tank, Al Sadd had to settle for second best with Barcelona, arguably the most quality team in the past week, walking away with the title for the second time in as many years.
After the final hooter, while Barcelona players broke into a jig and formed a victory huddle, Al Sadd players soaked in warm applause from the crowd, an appreciation for an outstanding effort to reach the final.
For the champions, Gurbindo, Rutenka and right-wing Victor Tomas scored five goals apiece, while Kiril Lazarov and Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson found the net four times each. For Al Sadd, Bannour was the top-scorer with six goals, while Fahad Albishi and Jaafar Salman contributed four each. The winning team got richer by US$ 400,000, while Al Sadd walked away with $200,000.
Bannani was proud of his team and said reaching the final was not a small achievement. “Barcelona were outstanding and they have great players too. We were very good in the first half, but like always Barcelona were better in the second. They were physically better too, while for us the fatigue was a factor after our tough win against Flensburg in the semis. But we went down fighting until the last minute and I am very proud of my team,” Bannai said.
The victorious coach Xavier Pascual felt the title was an important one, as it will set the tone for them for the rest of the season. “For us it was important to defend the title. During the course of the week we kept getting better. Al Sadd’s defence was top class in the first half, and we got better only in the second. I think physically also we were in good shape than Al Sadd and that certainly helped us,” he said.