History made: South Africa clinch first-ever Hockey World Cup medal
For the first time in history, South Africa are medalists at an FIH World Cup, after beating Belgium in the bronze medal match.
South Africa secured their first-ever medal by edging past Belgium 6-5 in the third-place playoff of the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup in Porec on Sunday.
South Africa won two of their three pool games (against Croatia and Poland) and lost one (against Austria) to book their place in the playoffs.
First up was a quarter-final against Iran, a contest which South Africa dominated en route to a 6-0 victory and a maiden semi-final berth. Unfortunately, the came up short in the last four match, going down 6-1 to Germany.
That result placed them on a collision course with Belgium in the third-place playoff/bronze medal showdown on Sunday.
In a nail-biting encounter, South Africa narrowly edged Europeans, with Mustapha Cassiem (three), Dayaan Cassiem (two) and Hans Neethling (penalty) scoring the six goals between them.
The victory sees South Africa secure a podium finish and bag a medal at the Indoor World Cup for the first time in history, despite limited funding and a shortage of resources compared to some of their more accomplished counterparts from around the globe.
In terms of standout players, one can look no further than 22-year-old Mustapha Cassiem, who hit the back of the net no less than 17 times in South Africa’s six games in total. The next best scorer with five goals was Dalpiarro Langford, while Dayaan Cassiem and Neethling finished with four each and Litha Kraai with two.