Namibia’s brilliant 3-2 victory against Australia at the Indoor Hockey World Cup on Monday has galvanised the hockey fraternity and nation at large, and strengthened their chances of reaching the knockout stages of the tournament.
Namibia gave a tremendous performance of grit and determination, coming twice from behind to seal a historic victory.
Australia took the lead within a minute when Kelsey Hughes scored from a short corner, but Namibia equalised through Tara Myburgh in the second quarter.
Australia regained the lead through Annelyse Tevant early in the second half, but Namibia once again fought back with Myburgh scoring her second at the start of the final quarter.
Australia threw everything into the attack, but Namibia defended courageously and Jivanka Kruger sealed a dramatic victory with a field goal two minutes from time.
It was the first time that Namibia had beaten Australia in five indoor international encounters, following two previous defeats and two draws, and coach Shayne Cormack said she was extremely proud of her team.
“I’m so overwhelmed by their fight. All we asked them to do today was to go out, trust the outcome, trust the Lord, go out and just fight. I’m so, so proud of these girls today. They never let their guard down, they just kept fighting and fighting,” she said.

“I’m really super proud because we have now achieved the first part of our goal, but we are just going to stay humble and keep working towards the next one,” she added.
Cormack said she was not worried when Australia took an early lead.
“I knew the girls could come back, because they’ve come from behind many times before. That’s why I wasn’t worried when that first goal went in. I actually enjoyed it, because I love it when the girls are down – they are such comeback queens,” she said.
Cormack thanked all Namibians for their support.
“I said to the girls this morning, we’ve got so many prayer-warriors behind us, it’s so overwhelming. It’s like angel armies around us, If you know the messages we have gotten and everyone supporting us,” she said.
“I can see people screaming at their TVs and in jubilation right now because we’ve just got such an incredible hockey community behind us, it’s really such a beautiful story,” she added.
Namibia now take on New Zealand in their second match at 12h10 (13h10 Namibian time) today and although Namibia is higher ranked at 12th, to New Zealand’s 15th in the world, New Zealand lead their head-to-head count with one win and one draw.
New Zealand were thumped 9-1 by Germany in their opening match on Monday, but Cormack said they would not underestimate them.
“We can’t take any game lightly at this tournament – we’ve just got to take every chukka (quarter) as it comes and keep on building. We’ve got to toughen up and win that ball in the 50-50’s better in our next game,” she said.
Congratulatory messages streamed in on social media, while Namibia’s former captain, Maggie Mengo said she was thrilled with the win.
“I’m super excited about their victory, and now that I’m retired, I’m their number one fan. I’m looking forward to the New Zealand game, I think they can win it, but we must take it one game at a time,” she said.
“It was great to have a win in our opening game, I think it has never happened at big tournaments before which is amazing,” she added.
“Well done to the captain Gillian (Hermanus), the coaches Shayne and Trevor (Cormack), the technical management of both the men and women’s teams, and the Namibia Hockey Union, and I also want to thank the Namibian government for their tremendous support,” she said.
Namibia’s men, meanwhile, will look to bounce back from their opening 7-4 defeat to Belgium when they take on Trinidad & Tobago at 09h30 (10h30 Namibian time).
Not much separates the two sides on paper, with Namibia ranked 14th in the world and Trinidad & Tobago 17th, while the West Indian nation also lost their opening match, going down 7-2 to Australia.
Namibia, however, certainly have the potential to win the match, judging by their performance against Belgium, as well as their warm-up matches against Croatia and Austria.
Mengo also had a word of encouragement for the men.
“It was really an unfortunate outcome or the men against Belgium, but I think they have what it takes. They are very competitive and I’m super excited about their journey at this World Cup,” she said.
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