The South Africans counted themselves fortunate to be invited to China’s four-nation Olympic preparation ‘Good Luck Beijing’ hockey tournament, but coach Jenny King’s team have been comprehensively beaten in each of their three group-stages matches.
Opening with a 4-0 loss to Australia, followed by a 3-0 loss to China and a 6-0 loss to Argentina on Saturday, the South African’s now face Argentina in a bronze-medal play-off repeat match on Monday.
After number-one goalkeeper Mariette Rix had played valiantly in the first two matches, King decided to give Vuyisanani Mangisa the nod for the Argentina game in the only change in her squad, but the end result was no different.
In their final group-stage match, the Argentineans lead the South Africans 2-0 at half time, and added four to the initial two for a total six field-goals in the match.
After their initial three matches each, Argentina lost to Australia and China each before their victory against SA for a best possible third place, while the unbeaten Australia leads China in Monday’s final for a championship title.
Quoted after the loss to Argentina on Saturday, King once again had to put out the official line, “It was an exciting game, and though [the] team lost the game, the players have gained precious experience from it.”
But having qualified for the world’s most prestigious event in Africa’s qualifier without conceding a goal, King will be looking for a much improved return in a year’s time, and will be hoping for an upset in their final outing.
Said to have fielded a large number of young players in his team, Argentinean head coach Minadeo Gabriel’s team gave full play to their skills, with confidence showing in the second half for a large winning margin.
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