The SA men’s hockey side came agonisingly close to securing 11th place at the World Cup before Pakistan prevailed 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out at the Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre.
Image: Jan van Zyl
South Africa’s FIH Hockey World Cup campaign in Belgium and the Netherlands ended with contrasting emotions on Friday, as the men suffered shoot-out heartbreak against Pakistan after the women were narrowly beaten by Ireland in their final classification match.
The men’s side came agonisingly close to securing 11th place before Pakistan prevailed 4-3 in a shoot-out after an entertaining 4-4 draw at the Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre, Belgium.
South Africa appeared to be in control after racing into a 2-0 lead through Trevor de Lora and captain Dayaan Cassiem, but Pakistan fought back to level the scores before taking a 3-2 advantage early in the second half.
Mustapha Cassiem, who emerged as one of South Africa’s standout players of the tournament, restored parity in the third quarter before putting the African champions back in front with five minutes remaining. His penalty-stroke conversion was his eighth goal of the tournament, but South Africa could not close out the victory as Pakistan equalised in the final minute to force the shoot-out.
Dayaan Cassiem and Calvin Davis converted South Africa’s opening attempts, while Mustapha also found the net after Pakistan’s Rana Waheed Ashraf missed the chance to seal victory. However, two further misses ultimately proved costly.
The result left South Africa 12th overall, but Mustapha admitted the manner of the defeat was difficult to take.
“As you can see from my emotions, it’s pretty gutting,” he said afterwards. “We wanted to go out there and put up a good performance. Tough phase in the tournament. When you have two or three days off, you just have to build towards trying to finish strong.
“Not the best result. So disappointing. I think, to be honest, we gave it away. We had a 2-0 lead and they equalised towards the end. These are things we have to learn from.”
For Cassiem, the disappointment also highlighted a bigger issue that has followed South Africa's campaign: preparation.
“Maybe if we had more time to prepare for this tournament, with time together, these things won’t happen,” he said. “Preparation is the key to success and we didn’t have enough preparation, in my opinion. Unfortunately, that’s us as a nation, and it’s simply not good enough.”
South Africa’s men had nevertheless finished the tournament strongly after defeats to Spain and Ireland in the pool phase. They drew 2-2 with three-time champions Australia before beating France 3-1 and drawing 3-3 with Malaysia.
Mustapha finished with eight goals, extending his record as SA's top World Cup goalscorer, while brother Dayaan marked his 100th international appearance during the tournament.
The women, meanwhile, ended their campaign in 14th place after a 1-0 defeat to Ireland in their 13th-place playoff.
South Africa produced a disciplined defensive performance and frustrated Ireland for long periods, but Michelle Carey’s 14th-minute goal proved decisive.
The result means the women improved by one place on their 15th-place finish at the 2022 World Cup, despite a difficult pool-stage campaign against England, India and China.
The South Africans showed greater resilience in the classification phase, drawing 1-1 with Japan before beating Chile 3-2 for their first victory of the tournament. Although they were unable to finish with another win, the campaign provided valuable experience for a squad containing a strong blend of Olympians and emerging players.
For both teams, however, the World Cup has also reinforced the need for greater investment and preparation if South Africa are to consistently challenge the world's leading hockey nations.
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