2003 FIVB World Cup Volleyball For Men And Women Official Website

29-Nov, start time: 15:05, end time: 16:33 - Attendance: 1,410

TUN 3 25 25 23 25 - 98

EGY 1 20 19 25 16 - 80

Match Description:

Tunisia Win North African Showdown
Tunisia won the North African showdown at the World Cup when they defeated Egypt 3-1 at Site B in Tokyo. The 25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 25-16 victory leaves Egypt rooted to the bottom of the World Cup rankings.

Both teams came into the match with just one win, Tunisia ranked 11th and Egypt 12th. Tunisia's first win was against host nation Japan, while Egypt fought back to defeat Korea yesterday evening, also in five sets.

But Egypt's win looked to have come at a price. They were surprisingly sluggish at the start against their North African rivals and although they kept the score close for most of the opening set, the spiking of Tunisia's Noureddine Hfaiedh, Khaled Belaid and Hosni Karamosly had far greater urgency and power about it. Captain Awad Hamdy Elsafy again was Egypt's main weapon but he was powerless to prevent his team going a set behind.

Tunisia's dominance at the net was crucial in the second set as they opened a commanding 13-8 lead thanks to consecutive blocks from Belaid. They extended this to 19-12, and although a number of errors crept into their game they were never in danger of relinquishing the lead as they moved two sets ahead.

There was more fight to Egypt in the third, with Awad Eslam Mohamed providing good offensive support for Elsafy and the team defending with more purpose. They fought back from 18-20 down to take the third with some spirited offense.
Tunisia had a battle on their hands and raised their game accordingly to take a 12-7 lead courtesy of three consecutive spikes from Hfaiedh and one from the impressive Marouan Fehri. With Egypt clearly tiring they had few difficulties extending their lead and securing the win with a Belaid spike.

Comments:

GIACOBBE, Antonio (TUN Head Coach)
" I know the Egyptian team has grown into a dangerous opponent, but we were able to show a good performance against them and we managed to control the game. It was a good match. "

GUIDARA, Ghazi (TUN Captain)
" Tunisian Volleyball has made great improvements. We know the Egyptian team very well and they know us very well. But we played better today and made less mistakes."

VESELIN, Vukovic (EGY Head Coach)
" Our team was lacking in strength because yesterday's match (against Korea) was long and hard. On the other hand, Tunisia played very well. I believe that it was important to win the first set in order to win this game. I'm satisfied that we have been able to compete with other teams throughout this tournament, although we've had little international experience."

AWAD, Hamdy Elsafy (EGY Captain)
" Today our team was tired due to the long game yesterday. On the other hand, the Tunisian players were so good. The Tunisia and Egypt teams know each other very well and because of that every game is close. I'm disappointed that we did not give ourselves a chance to win today. "

Official Result:

Match statistics (P-2) - PDF