City of October 6 (Egypt) (AFP)
Switzerland, a last-minute guest at the Handball World Cup after a 26-year absence, ended its fine run in Egypt with a third success in six matches against Algeria 27-24 on Sunday in the suburbs of Cairo.
Carried as usual by the indestructible center-half Andy Schmid, author of nine goals, the Swiss team could also count on the goalkeeper of Chambéry Nikola Portner (14 saves at 38%), very effective in the two phases of hen.
Replacing the United States which had withdrawn the day before the opening match due to too many cases of Covid-19 within their workforce, the Helvetians had already succeeded in their tournament by beating Austria for their entry into the running, just hours after landing in Cairo (28-25).
Qualifying for the main round, 26 years after their last appearance in a world championship.
Schmid, 37, and his teammates then came close to catching France (lost 25-24) by using the game to 7 against 6, and beat Iceland before losing their last hope of qualifying for the quarter-finals Friday against Portugal (33-29 defeat).
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