(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Fawad Hussain I The Peninsula
DOHA: Qatar head coach Valero Rivera is hopeful that his side will give a good show against group leaders Sweden today in their fourth match at the IHF Men's World Handball Championship in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Qatar have won one and lost two matches in the tournament so far but they are still alive in the event in which top three teams from each group will advance to the next stage.
Al Annabi lost to debutants Angola 24-23 in their first match before bouncing back against Egypt with a 28-23 win. In their third match on Monday, they suffered a 26-32 defeat against Hungary.
The coach Rivera side is currently third on the table, ahead of Angola and Egypt on a better goal difference.
Hungary occupy second spot with two victories while Sweden have won all their three matches to sit on top of the points standings.
Rivera said his team will be firing on all cylinders to reach the next round after a ‘much-needed' rest.
'Our players are not used to play that much, in short intervals so the rest day was important for us. We will try our best against Sweden and will continue to work hard to reach the next round.
On the loss against Hungary, the Qatar coach said: 'Hungary were better against us and they deserved to win.
Qatar's Anis Zououi, who plays for Al Sadd said bad performance in the first half cost Qatar dearly against Hungary. 'They played better than us. We played a lot better in the second half. I think the bad performance in the first half let us down, he said.
After their penultimate group match today, Al Annabi will take on bottom-placed Argentina in their final game of the first phase tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Brazil registered a hard-fought 25-23 win over Russia while Tunisia defeated Saudi Arabia 24-20 to earn winning points in yesterday's matches.
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