Egypt’s national handball team secured the victory over Gabon during their quarter-final face-off on Monday in Tunisia. With a scoreboard of 36-17, the Pharaohs are set on a path of triumph.
The titleholder of the current ongoing African Cup of Nations will qualify directly to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, which are scheduled to take place between June and August of this year.
The North African nation will face off against Angola next Wednesday to conclude the quarter-final round. So far, Egypt has won over the Democratic Republic and Gabon, making Angola the final challenge of this group.
If Egypt wins in their upcoming match, the Pharaohs are to make it to the semi-finals, wherein they will face-off against the leading country of the second group, which includes Tunisia, Algerian, Morocco, and Cape Verde, some of the most formidable handball teams in Africa.
Egypt has had a favorable match against the Democratic Republic of Congo, winning with a difference of 9 points, which bodes well for the national team in its uphill battle for a shot at the Tokyo Olympics.
Egypt started its preparations for the Nations Cup last summer with some home training camps before traveling to Europe where they faced Sweden and Serbia twice.
The National Egyptian Handball Team got its start in the 1960s as the first African team to compete in the world championship, and although the team earned no points, this was still considered to be a great achievement. It wasn’t until the 90s that we began to see the Egyptian team’s true potential; an extraordinary performance in 1995 led them to beat Romania, the former world champions.
The team now holds six continental titles, coming second to the Tunisians who are the defending champions with ten continental titles up their sleeves. So far, fans expect the final showdown to be between these two handball giants.
In 2019, the Pharaohs surprised everyone with their outstanding performance in the World Championship, in which they came in the eighth.
With the Egyptian National Team U-21 finishing in third in last year’s world cup, and the U-19’s crowning as world champions, attitude is changing and people are embracing the spirit when it comes to team sports other than football.