SA Look for Positives at London World League by Jonathan Cook For SA Hockey Media on 30 June, 2013 in Hockey, International Championship, Newsroom Italy beat the Investec South Africa women’s hockey team 3-1 in a penalty shootout and 4-2 overall, after the full-time score was locked at 1-1, in the Investec World League playoff match at the University of Westminster in Chiswick, London, on Saturday. South Africa will now play world number 15 Spain in the seventh/eighth place playoff at 11.30 am (SA time) on Sunday. The match will be live on SuperSport HD4 at 11:30am (SA time) and a delayed broadcast 10:00pm on SuperSport 6. The world’s 10-ranked USA beat Spain 3-1 in their playoff Sunday. South Africa had 30 entries into the strike zone in the match against Italy’s 16, five penalty corners to three against, and had 12 goal shots to the Europeans’ seven, but despite the lion’s share of proceedings, it was not to be. Italy opened the scoring in the 27th minute when Giuliana Ruggieri converted a penalty stroke, the set-piece awarded after the umpires had adjudged a collision in the strike zone in the Italian’s favour. Elisabetta Pacella hit the post a minute later, while there were plenty of opportunities for both sides in this hotly-contested match, Italian goalkeeper Martina Chirico in particular pulling off some super saves as South Africa came agonisingly close on a number of occasions. SA piled on the pressure in the second half and the strain on the Italian defence was immense. Three green and two yellow cards, both yellows to captain Chiara Tiddi, were awarded to the Italians during the match and for 16 minutes in the second half they were down to nine players. With 32 seconds left on the clock Pietie Coetzee netted the equaliser from South Africa’s fifth penalty corner, and the match went into a penalty shootout. It was the world record goalscorer’s 276th goal in 272 Test matches. Goalkeeper Chirico was superb for Italy while Ruggieri demonstrated her big-match temperament, by scoring the decisive penalty shootout goal for the 3-1 shootout victory and the 4-2 final scoreline. SA co-captain Lenise Marais said her team were very disappointed. “We made the goal right at the end to give ourselves a chance in the shootout, but we had many opportunities during the game.” Marais said the positives were that the hockey had been competitive and now world number 11 South Africa were going “full-out” to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, by winning the Africa Cup in Kenya in September/October.| Italy head coach Fernando Ferrarra said the tournament was a great experience for his world 17th-ranked side. “We played very well and are very happy. In every game we have tried to match the higher-ranked team, and the spirit is very high in the team.” South Africa Fixtures for the Investec World League Semi-Finals (Second Leg) in London from 22–30 June, 2013: 22 June: England 4-1 South Africa 23 June: South Africa 2-2 Spain 25 June: South Africa 0-1 Australia 27 June: Argentina 3-1 South Africa 29 June: South Africa 1-3 Italy (Italy wins 3-1 on Penalty Shoot, 4-2 overall) 30 June, 11:30am: South Africa – Spain Investec SA Hockey Team for the FIH World League Semi-Finals Tournament at the University of Westminster in Chiswick, London: Sanani Mangisa (Southern Gauteng) Phume Mbande (Northern Blues) Lenise Marais (KZN Coastal Raiders) Marcelle Keet (Border) Nicolene Terblanche (NB) Illse Davids (Western Province) Shelley Russell (WP) Tarryn Bright (WP) Pietie Coetzee (SG) Quanita Bobbs (WP) Sulette Damons (North West) Dirkie Chamberlain (NB) Jade Mayne (WP) Tanya Britz (Free State) Lilian du Plessis (NB) Izelle Lategan (FS) Kelly Madsen (KCR) Marsha Cox (SG) (With editing by gsport)
Posted on: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 07:16:56 +0000
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