Rafiu Salami, the head coach of Nigeria’s senior male national handball team, on Friday in Abuja, expressed hope that the team would secure a ticket for the World Cup.

The team, also known as Golden Arrows, will depart Nigeria to Egypt on Saturday for the qualifiers.

Salami said that the team had displayed commitment and spirit to do well at the competition.

“They have been working hard in their training sessions in camp. They played a lot of friendly matches in a close camping at the Aguiyi Ironsi Cantonment.

“I have always advised them to be focused and determined; and with dedication they will have a good performance at the championship. We are determined to make the country proud at the championship,” the coach said.

He added that the team is ready to surpass its previous position in the last edition held in Tunisia. “We finished 10th position out of 16 counties that participated in the last edition of the championship in Tunisia.

“This year we will fight hard to be among the first five so that we will be able to secure a ticket to participate in the World Cup in Poland and Sweden in 2023.

“The tournament is for the champion of champions to compete and we know the strength of each country. We will fight well to defeat them all.

“I want to assure all Nigerians that we will return home with a medal and make the country proud.

“We will continue to work hard to ensure we do well in the championship because our goal is to qualify for the World Championship,” Salami said.

A total of 14 countries will participate in the championship in Cairo, Egypt. Nigeria is grouped in Group C alongside Tunisia and Cape Verde.

Group A has Egypt, Morocco and Cameroon while Algeria, Gabon, Guinea and Kenya are in group B. Group D has Angola, DR Congo, Senegal and Zambia.

Nigeria will play their first match against Tunisia on July 11 and the second match against Cape Verde on July 12.

The championship will also serve as an African qualifiers tournament for the 2023 World Men’s Handball Championship in Poland and Sweden.

The first five countries will represent the continent in the World Cup.

Nigeria has participated in the 11 editions of the Africa Men Handball Nations Cup with their best outing recorded in the 1998 in South Africa where they finished 4th after losing to Egypt 35-26. They finished in 10th position in the last edition in Tunisia.

The 25th edition of the African Men’s Handball Championship is slated for Egypt from July 9 to July 19.

(NAN)