Last-second goal brought draw for host Al-Sadd from Qatar against El Zamalek from Egypt.

El Zamalek (EGY) – Al-Sadd (Qatar) 37:37 (17:15)

The fans celebrated their team although it had missed victory: El Zamalek from Egypt unluckily drew against favourite host Al-Sadd from Qatar. The Egyptians were close to another big sensation but Renato Sulic equalised in the very last second of the match to spoil the Egyptian dream. While the Qataris remaining unbeaten with three points, Zamalek has credited one single point to its account so far. So this group will be decided on Monday when Al-Sadd faces Ciudad Real for the top position and a spot in the final.

The whole game was a tough clash full of emotions – and it was nearly a home match for the Egyptians, as their supporters were much louder than those of the host team. Zamalek was the dominant side in the first half.  Goalkeeper Mohamed Ibrahim and his strong defence were the keys to success. And in case they had not missed so many chances, the match could have already been decided at half-time. But on the other side Dejan Peric, one of the world’s best goalkeepers, shut the gate, saved several of Zamalek’s 100% chances and kept Al-Sadd on track.

The game was on highest level – and to everybody’s surprise Zamalek had the means to stop “helping hands” like Serbia’s Marko Vujin or Renato Sulic most of the time. After a score of 10:10, Zamalek took the lead and extended it twice to three goals despite those chances missed out.

After the break, both sides acted on a par. Zamalek kept a narrow lead until 23:23 when Al-Sadd equalised for the first time with Vujin being unstoppable for the Egyptian defence. From that moment on the game hung by a hair. You would have proved wrong if you had thought that Zamalek lost its power. Unfortunately they were too tough in defence thus suffering from several 2m suspensions. Led by Vujin, Al-Sadd took the lead but could not extend the margin considerably. With the score at 35:33, Zamalek seemed on the path to victory, but Al-Sadd equalised again. With 35 seconds to go before the final whistle, the Egyptians scored to 37:36, but short of two players on the field during the last ten seconds they could not stop Al-Sadd’s final attack.

Quotes after the match

Tarek Lotfi, coach of Zamalek: It was a tough match between two strong teams, and we continued well after the break. Both teams could have won.

Khaled Hossam, player of Zamalek: We played much better than in the first match – and we still have the chance of reaching second rank. As the goal difference might bring the final decision, we have to seek a high-score victory over the Southern Stars. We will do our very best tomorrow.

Ahmed Deabes, coach of Al-Sadd: We fought hard and took the lead in the second half, but Zamelek was well prepared and had an excellent team. The players, who joined our team, fit better match by match. We will carefully prepare and try to well recover for the decisive match against Ciudad Real.

Gergö Ivancsik, player of Al-Sadd: Our defence was too weak and less aggressive. Yet, as we improved our counter-attacks in the second half, we took the lead. I think we, the professionals from Europe, can even more improve. We have not yet showed our best performance, but we are not 100% fresh due to the matches at home.

Photos by Adel Aldelimay