Handball: Egypt’s Ali Zein joins Dinamo Bucuresti from Barcelona

Egypt’s Ali Zein has completed his move from Spanish giants Barcelona to Dinamo Bucuresti, the Romanian side announced on Wednesday.

Zein penned a two-year contract with Dinamo that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2024.

The 32-year-old joined Barcelona from UAE side Al-Sharjah last summer, helping them win the Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup, and Catalan Super titles.

He will join up with compatriots Mohamed Mamdouh Hashem and Ahmed Khayri at his new club.

Zein was instrumental in Egypt’s run to the semi-final of last year’s Olympic Games, which saw the Pharaohs finish fourth in Tokyo for their best-ever position.

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Dinamo Bucuresti take first away points in Porto

While Dinamo Bucuresti have been a threat at home to their opponents throughout the group phase, they have been disappointing away from their base.

Tonight, they proved they are able to travel well, taking the points in Porto after being ahead on the scoreboard for much of the game.

These points are also very important, as both teams are in a battle for a play-off ticket, and Bucuresti might regret not having scored more than two points tonight.

GROUP B :

FC Porto (POR) vs CS Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) 31:32 (12:12)

• the visitors took the upper hand early in the game, securing a four-goal advantage before the middle of the first half, thanks to their defence and saves by Khalifa Ghedbane
• with Nikola Mitrevski stopping some important shots, Porto got the opportunity to come back into the game, which they did not waste, going back to the dressing room level
• while they didn’t manage to increase their advantage by more than two goals, Dinamo remained on top throughout the second half
• Fabio Magalhaes scored six and did his best to keep Porto in the game, but he could not help his teammates make the score level in the dying seconds, despite having two opportunities to do so
• Dinamo now climb to sixth place, where they are level with Motor and Porto, all with eight points

Dinamo end waiting game

Only once had Dinamo been close to winning an away game, in Zaporozhye, but they lost by one against Motor.

All their other trips proved to be tough ones, with big defeats, but tonight the Romanian side managed to stay in the game, taking the lead right from throw-off before keeping it all the way to the end.

Coach Xavi Pascual always said the Dinamo project was one for the long-term. Tonight was probably a sign that the team is going in the right direction.