| Youssef Benali | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Benali in 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Born | 28 May 1987 Tunis, Tunisia | ||
| Nationality | Tunisian/Qatari | ||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Playing position | Pivot | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Al Arabi | ||
| Number | 41 | ||
| National team | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Qatar | 63 | (195) | |
Youssef Benali (born 28 May 1987) is a Tunisian-born Qatari handball player for Al Arabi and the Qatari national team. [1] [2] [3] [4]
He was part of the Qatar team that won silver medals at the 2015 World Championship in Qatar, the first World Championship medal for both Qatar and for any Asian team. [5] The result was however controversial due to the many naturalized players of Qatar, of which Benali was one of them. [6] [7] According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine , only four of the 17 players in the squad were native to Qatar. [8] The practice was criticised by Austrian goalkeeper after his team's loss to Qatar in the round of 16, saying "It [felt] like playing against a world selection team" and "I think it is not the sense of a world championship." [9] Furthermore there were claims of favourable refereering for the hosts. [10] [11] [12] After the final whistle of their semifinal against Poland, the Polish players showed their discontent by ironically applauding the three referees. [13] [14]
