Barca with third win in semifinal like group winner

FC Barcelona - Esperance Tunis 37:23 (20:10)

Third match - third victory. Defending champion FC Barcelona is on its way to defend its title. After a typical Spanish start which is like a "railway sleeping car" the team of coach Xavier Pascual dominated in its last preliminary round match against Esperance Tunis both half times. After a quick 4:1 for the underdog from Tunisia the defending champion decided to start playing the match and some minutes later Barcelona took over the lead with 10:5.

The 20:10 after the first 30 minutes was the clear decision. The second half time became a mix between sport and entertainment: The spectators were expecting a family duel between the Jallouz Brothers. Wael on the Spanish side decided this duel with a 4:0 against his younger brother Tarek. The champions won all duels the big ones and the small ones. Barcelona won the preliminary group sovereign and is now waiting for its semi-final competitor.

Xavier Pascal (coach from Barcelona):
It was our best game in this young season. It is important for us to reach the semi-final. I am happy with my players today. Now we hope to reach also the final.

Jesper Noddesbo (player from Barcelona):
I have the same feeling as my coach. It was important for us to play a good game and all in all a good tournament. We hope to play on this high level the entire tournament long.

Nejib Ben Thayer (coach from Tunis):
We played well for 40 minutes in this match: the first 10 minutes and the second half time. In the time between we made too many mistakes in our offense and allowed Barcelona a lot of fast breaks. But we fought as much as we could.

Tarek Jallouz (player from Tunis):
It was the first time for me to play against Barcelona and to play against my brother. Both were new experiences for me. I think we were playing not so bad. But Barcelona has a great team and it is difficult to beat them. This IHF Super Globe is our first and we hope we can come back in a better shape.