(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatar were one of the last teams to have their Eighth-Finals hopes crushed when the final whistle blew in the group phase at the 2015 IHF Men's Youth World Championship. After a disappointing first game against Denmark followed by much stronger performances in their remaining preliminary round games, beginning with a win against Switzerland, the Asian side were sent to the President's Cup when they lost to hosts Russia in their last Group D match on Friday.
But coach Julian Gomez himself pointed out that his team were on par with other teams in their group throughout the preliminary round:
"I think we played face to face with the best teams in Europe, but our problem is the seven metres, even with different players. But I think my team fought."
face to face with the top teams in Europe.
As with the senior and junior teams in the previous IHF Men's World Championships this year, Qatar's teams have shown one of their strengths to be their goalkeepers.
At the 2015 IHF Men's Youth World Championship, the Asian side showed they once again have solid players between the posts. Ahmed Abdelrhem in particular has been exceptional, on the court for most of the group phase to finish the preliminary round with a 36.6% save rate.
Abdelrhem caught the eye of Vice President of the Handball Federation of Russia and medal-winning legend, Andrey Lavrov, with the former world-class goalkeeper naming him as one of three young keepers he has been particularly impressed with so far at this championship.
IHF.info spoke with the coach about the approach to goalkeeping in Qatar and about the mentality of players in that position.
IHF.info: At all three of the men's world championships this year Qatar's keepers have stood out as a key for the team's performance. What are you doing in Qatar that's so special?
Julian Gomez: We have good coaches for goalkeepers, but it's also because it's absolutely different. The physique of Arabic people can play very, very well € it's very easy for him in this position. There's no need to worry about the defence € no need. And he can play very good, very good as a goalkeeper.
This player especially [Abdelrhem] € and also the player of the junior team [Rasheed Yusuff] € are workers. Every day they are working very, very hard.
IHF.info: Do you have one goalkeeper coach that works with all the teams, or do the goalkeepers work together?
Julian Gomez: We have two trainers for the goalkeepers. We have here one coach who works with this group, this age, and he works with the juniors when the first coach of the goalkeepers is with the senior team. We work in Qatar like a team. It's not important [who works with which players].
IHF.info: At the other men's world championships this year Qatar's keepers have been almost interchangeable € it does not matter which is in goal, they have always been a big challenge for the opposing team to shoot against. Can we expect the same from your second goalkeeper here?
Julian Gomez: Yes, but we don't speak about first or second goalkeeper € it's a team. For example, we thought for the shooters of Switzerland this goalkeeper [Abdhelrhem] is better, but maybe after tomorrow we'll change. Normally I have of course the responsibility but my assistant, the coach of the goalkeepers, might say to me: 'I think this for the next matches.'
IHF.info: When a goalkeeper is having a bad day the coach usually takes them off the court. Do you think it's very difficult for them to pull themselves up when they are having trouble making saves?
Julian Gomez: It's very difficult because as a [court] player maybe today you have a bad day for shooting but you can pass, you can do a very good job in defence. The goalkeeper will save or not save. It's a special psychology of the goalkeeper, and they need all the support. We try to give all the support, especially because these are goalkeepers and young € they need support, need help, need all the coaches around them to understand their position.
IHF.info: How does it change as they get older? People can play goalkeeper well for a very long time € usually only getting better as they age.
Julian Gomez: Because the goalkeeper always analyses, always knows every shooter, he can play many, many times. For example, the Vice President of Russian Federation [Lavrov] was my player in Germany for many, many years. But he's better because he knows absolutely where every player of the league shoots. He has a computer in his head.
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