King Cassiem scores five as SA bounce Czechs at Indoor Hockey World Cup

Mustapha Cassiem was as lethal as a sniper as he spearheaded a spectacular fightback by the South African men’s team to beat the more-fancied Czech Republic 8-4 at the Indoor Hockey World Cup in Pretoria on Monday night. 

For a team that was trailing 1-3 early in the opening quarter and not looking particularly sharp, Mustapha found the net five times in the middle 20 minutes with unnerving accuracy. 

He turned into a scoring machine with two penalty strokes, two penalty corners and a field goal after making a steal in front of the opposition goal. 

Brother Dayaan Cassiem netted SA’s opener from open play while Chad Futcher and captain Jethro Eustice bagged the seventh and eighth goals, both from penalty corners. 

The Czechs are ranked fifth in the world and SA 11th, and for the first quarter that’s how they played, but after that SA suddenly looked far closer to their goal of trying to win elusive silverware. 

They looked like genuine contenders. 

“Game management,” Mustapha said when asked about how they turned the game around. “We had to take in all that pressure in the first quarter and I think credit to all the boys, especially the senior guys in the group that just kept us nice and calm, level-headed.”

Eustice thought they struggled with nerves in the opening segment. “We’re playing against a top European nation, they’re always going to be probably a bit more skilful, a bit more aware … most of our guys, it’s their second World Cup match so I think at the end of the day it was pressure.”

On Tuesday they face the US, who were hammered 8-3 by Iran.

The SA women were valiant as they went down 3-1 to the Netherlands, the top-ranked side in the absence of defending champions Germany. 

It took the Dutch almost six minutes to find the net, but the SA players refused to give up, equalising in the second quarter after a break-away up the right flank. 

Edith Molikoe forged ahead and fired, but when goalkeeper Alexandra Heerbaart blocked her attempt, Celia Seerane swooped on the rebound and netted the equaliser.

The teams were 1-1 at halftime. 

This Dutch outfit, who annihilated New Zealand 10-0 on Sunday, were slick with their precision passes and their ability to intercept passes and steal possession was impressive. 

But they hadn’t factored on SA doggedness and gees, as well as great defence by keeper Cheree Greyvenstein, which kept them at bay for most of the first half. 

Skipper Jess O’ Connor chuckled on Sunday when asked about her team’s chances against the tournament favourites, but stressed they needed to slow the action down and frustrate the Holland team. 

They executed their game plan to perfection.

But it was inevitable that they wouldn’t be able to sustain the immense Dutch pressure for the the duration and they conceded two more goals.  

Still, the SA team treated it as a moral victory. “I think I’m in tears right now, it means so much,” said Greyvenstein. “SA hockey has come a long way in the indoor space, competing with No. 2 in the world and we’re 14th.”

At the previous World Cup SA went down 0-11 to the Dutch. 

Greyvenstein refused to buckle after Holland scored their opener. “You have to be positive. You let one in —  are you going to let another one in or are you going to keep fighting? 

“It takes a lot of mental power because you’re the last line of defence. The worst feeling is hearing that backboard go ding.”

Captain O’ Connor was also heartened by the performance. “We worked together as a team, we shuffled and we shuffled and we shuffled and we defended our hearts out. 

“The only thing I asked of the team for this game was that we play with our full hearts and I think we did that. I’m so proud of them.”

 The women also play the US on Tuesday morning.  “It’s one that we want to win, especially coming off a result like this,” said O’ Connor. “You can’t really take a step backwards.”

Other results:

Men: Iran 8 US 3; Argentina 3 Australia 1; Belgium 7 New Zealand 2; Netherlands 9 Kazakhstan 1; Austria 2 Namibia 0. 

Women: Austria 2 US 1; Ukraine 3 Belgium 0; Czech Republic 8 Kazakhstan 2; Canada 2 Namibia 2.