Handball: Juri Knorr plays at Aalborg under the name Tongadza

Last summer, Juri Knorr embarked on an overseas adventure, moving from the Daikin Handball Bundesliga with Rhein-Neckar Löwen to the Danish Håndboldligaen with Aalborg Håndbold. Our national team star has been doing well with the top European club and quickly made a name for himself in Denmark. However, he will soon be playing under a completely different name. His club released photos showing Knorr wearing a jersey with a different name: Tongadza!

Why is our national team playmaker suddenly wearing a different name on his jersey? The explanation is simple: on May 2, his team Aalborg will wear special jerseys without sponsor logos or their own names during the championship round match against Fredericia. Instead, each player will wear the name of a person from one of the 18 countries hardest hit by famine, with Knorr representing Tongadza from Mozambique.

This initiative, “In the Name of Hunger,” is part of the club’s collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme. The unique jerseys will be worn during the game, signed by the players afterward, and auctioned off on the same day, with all proceeds going to the World Food Programme.

Knorr, after some initial challenges adjusting to the star-studded roster in Denmark, is having a good season with Aalborg and is in the race for three titles. They are aiming for a historic Triple. Aalborg already secured the Danish Cup in February and are one step away from the Champions League Final Four in Cologne. They face Sporting Lisbon in the quarterfinals, hoping to make their mark in the competition after two final losses to FC Barcelona in previous years.

[List of countries and regions classified as emergencies by the World Food Programme: – Afghanistan – Central Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, Chad) – Democratic Republic of the Congo – Ethiopia – Haiti – Lebanon – Middle East – Mozambique – Myanmar – Palestine – Somalia – South Sudan – Sudan – Syria – Ukraine – Yemen]