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January 16, 2025Playing at the IHF Men’s World Championship after a 28-year break, Italy are close to secure their main round spot. The team coached by Riccardo Trillini claimed their second straight victory, this time against Algeria, once again improving their record win in the competition, after beating that record against Tunisia.
GROUP B
Italy vs Algeria 32:23 (16:11)
The European side took an early control of the match, as Leo Prantner, who had scored 10 goals in their opening match against Tunisia, picked up where he had left off two days before. His three early goals powered Italy to a 4:2 lead, and then Jeremi Pirano also rose to prominence – in fact, Italy’s two wings did not miss any shots in the first half, combining for 11 of 16 goals scored by their team.
But the Italian game was not only about the attack, as their goalkeeper Domenico Ebner also did a great job. He stood like a wall, delivering 11 saves for a 50 per cent shot efficiency before the interval, while his Algerian colleague Khalifa Ghedbane only stopped 22% of balls.
The difference in goalkeeping helped Italy to extend their lead to 10:5 midway through the first half, and although the African side slashed the gap to 9:12, the Italians enjoyed another good spell before the break, restoring a five-goal lead, 16:11.
The beginning of the second half saw both sides missing penalty shots – Prantner was denied by Ghedbane, while Andrea Colleluori, who replaced Ebner for a while, saved Redouane Saker’s attempt. Italy extended their lead to 19:13, but then failed to score for eight minutes, giving Algeria a chance to come back into the game.
However, the Africans also struggled in attack and only managed to cut the deficit to 19:15 before Italy recovered and enjoyed a 4:0 spurred by centre back Pablo Marrochi and left back Gianruca Daripan. Although Ebner’s save efficiency dropped to 41%, Italy led by 25:17 with 10 minutes to go, so the outcome was all but settled.
In the end, the European side cruised to a comfortable nine-goal victory, as Prantner became their leading scorer for the second consecutive match, this time with seven goals. At Algeria, two back court players Messaoud Berkous and Ayyoub Abdi stood out with six goals each, but it did not help their team to avoid a nine-goal loss, 23:32.
In their last group match, Italy will be tested by reigning world champions Denmark on Saturday, and on the same day, Algeria will play a do-or-die derby against Tunisia, with the winner progressing to the main round.
hummel Player of the Match: Domenico Ebner (Italy)