Mustapha Cassiem (Reg Caldecott)
Reg Caldecott
A dramatic last-minute strike by Mustapha Cassiem gave South Africa a 6-5 win over Argentina at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup on Thursday.
That win means South Africa qualified for the competition’s semi-finals in the men’s and women’s divisions after the women’s team also came away with a 6-3 win over New Zealand.
In the men’s fixture, the host nation was forced to fend off repeated comebacks as the flair and passion of Argentina kept them in the game until Cassiem pounced in the dying seconds.
Mustapha was in it from the outset when he raced downfield inside the first minute and set up his brother Dayaan for a brilliant field goal. The South African star followed that up with a goal of his own to make it 2-0, but from then, it was a case of punch and counterpunch.
The Blitzstoks built a 5-3 lead in the third quarter, one of those being a brilliant reverse flick by Dayaan, but no indoor hockey game is ever completely safe, and Argentina made it 5-5 with four minutes remaining
However, the South African players stayed patient, jumped on a mistake by Argentina, and Mustapha did the rest.
Skipper Jethro Eustice was ecstatic following the win.
“I think we know that we have the ability to go on the counter, wait for a mistake and then move the ball quickly to Mustapha or Dayaan in the circle. If we can do that, we know we have a goal-scoring opportunity,” Eustice said.
“Of course, you must contend with the defence, but if you keep creating scoring opportunities, some of them must come off. And to score like that with less than a minute to go was just incredible.”
Eustice acknowledged Cassiem’s influence for South Africa throughout the week.
“We have to compliment on his goal-scoring,” he said.
“He is a special player, and we have been seeing him doing the same thing from the U14s, so it’s no surprise.
“Now he’s doing it on the international stage, and our focus must be on laying the foundation for him to use his abilities.”
The South African women won their second match in a row to end in the top eight for the first time.
It was no walk in the park, though, with New Zealand pushing them all the way and at halftime, with South Africa leading 1-0, it was anybody’s game.
“We were really struggling a bit with our connections after a tough game last night, missing opportunities and all getting a bit frustrated and flustered,” said captain Jess O’Connor said.
“At halftime, we said, let’s just take it down a notch and keep better focus, concentrating on just one pass and to stop being so frantic. We were able to do that, and finally, we started sinking some goals.
“It’s an amazing achievement, the highest we have finished in a tournament like this. We know we have a tough one tomorrow, so we will get some rest now and then try to focus on keeping the winning momentum.”
The teams to have qualified for the quarter-finals so far are:
Women
Pool A: Netherlands, Austria, Australia, South Africa
Pool B: Belgium, Ukraine
Men
Pool A: Austria, Netherlands, Belgium
Pool B: United States, South Africa, Iran, Argentina