The Algerian men’s and women’s teams have secured their place in the final of the 2020 International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Goalball African Championships after three days of pool play in Port Said, Egypt.

The Algerian men got their campaign underway on Monday (2 March) with wins over hosts Egypt and Morocco.

Samir Belhoushat dominated for Algeria against the hosts, netting 10 of their 13 goals with only three in reply.

Belhoushat followed that up in the afternoon with a further seven against Morocco. The game would go on to end 10-0.

Egypt regrouped ready to take on Algeria again the following day. This time the team proved to be more of a challenge, bagging six goals. That included a hat-trick for Sherif Ahmed El Dosoky.

Sadly for Egypt, their improvement was not enough against an Algerian side on the march. Seven goals for Belhoushat, in addition to five for Mohamed Mokrane, saw the pair take the majority of their team’s 13 goals.

Algeria cemented their finals place with a 10-0 win over Morocco on Wednesday (4 March).
Egypt meanwhile received a boost from their last round-robin game against Morocco.

The Egyptians weathered a second-half surged from their opponents which saw a four goal lead at half-time disappear.

The Moroccans netted four goals courtesy of Abderazzak Hattab and Kamal Boughlam. But Egypt managed to hold on, scoring four of their own to just reach a narrow two goal win of 9-7.

The slender win sets-up an exciting decider between the two countries on Thursday (5 March) to determine who will join Algeria in the final.

In the women’s Algeria were also the side to beat.

In their opening 12-2 win against Morocco, Saliha Slimi was the star player with eight goals.
Bakha Benallou then took centre stage on Tuesday against Egypt, also finding the net an impressive eight times to secure Algeria a 9-2 win overall.

Egypt’s valiant performance came after a tough opening game against Morocco on Monday. A tense 13-13 draw saw both sides struggle to find an advantage across the match. The rematch the following day saw a much easier win for Egypt. Captain Faten Gaber led her side to a 13-3 win with 11 goals on her own.

But it was Algeria who went unbeaten, adding to their record with a 11-1 win over Morocco on Wednesday. They then followed-up with their second win of the day against Egypt.

As in the men’s, Egypt and Morocco will play a one final game on Thursday morning to determine who will take Algeria on for gold.

5 March – schedule

11:00: Egypt v Morocco (women’s)
12:30: Egypt v Morocco (men’s)
16:00: Algeria v Egypt or Morocco
17:30: Algeria v Egypt or Morocco