Namibia faces its biggest test 

The Namibian women’s team face their biggest test when they take on the world’s third ranked nation, Austria, in the quarterfinals of the Indoor Hockey World Cup in Porec tonight. 

Namibia yesterday lost 8-1 to the world’s top-ranked side,Germany, but the result was of no consequence as both teams had already qualified for the quarter-finals. 

Germany were a class apart as they stamped their authority on the game from the start, stretching Namibia’s defence with their slick passes to each corner of the court. 

Namibia defended admirably for a while, but the constant pressure told and Germany took the lead through two goals in quick succession by Teresa Martin-Pelegrina and Ines Wanner midway through the first quarter. 

Namibia’s defence, where Sunelle Ludwig, Kiana Cormack and Marike Neethling shone, managed to keep them at bay for most of the second quarter, but Maja Weber finally broke through with a field goal, while another by Katharina Kiefer put Germany 4-0 ahead by halftime. 

Germany continued to dominate possession after the break and added four more goals, with Wanner scoring her second, while Phillin Bolle scored a hattrick, but there was some joy for Namibia when Azaylee Philander scored a late consolation goal from a short corner. 

Namibia coach Shayne Cormack said despite the defeat, she was excited by the potential she saw. 

“Well, obviously it was a tough game, it was a dead rubber, so there was nothing to play for, but we really wanted to go out and show we could compete. I was really excited by what I saw our girls do in the first five minutes – our ball speed was good, and we were finding connections, but it’s about playing at that tempo the whole time,” she said. 

“But then we had to go into a negative press, because they started to dictate the ball speed, trying to find the outlets. It was hard because we were just shifting all the time chasing the ball, and I just think that when we won the ball, we gave it away too easily,” she added. 

“Then I made some line changes, five on five, so it got a little bit tighter at the end and I think we probably conceded most of the goals towards the end of the five. So these were all things we were trying out and we tried to give everybody a game and I’m happy with the potential that I saw,” she said. 

“Obviously, I don’t like losing, no one does, and I don’t think the score line reflects the effort of the girls today. We did say there was going to be a lot of attacks coming in from the left, and I think three or four of their goals came from that angle, so these are things we need to improve on,” she added. 

That result saw Namibia finishing second in Pool C behind Germany and they will now take on Austria, who finished second in Pool B behind Poland.

Austria drew 1-1 against Poland in their opening match, and then thumped South Africa 10-0, before suffering a surprise 2-1 defeat to Thailand in their final pool match yesterday. 

South Africa, meanwhile, failed to make it to the quarterfinals after losing 4-2 to Poland yesterday, while they drew 4-4 to Thailand in their opening match. 

Cormack, meanwhile, said that Austria will be a tough proposition. 

“I respect Austria, they are a great team. I mean, they’ve come in very highly ranked, so obviously, I guess their goal is to win a medal at the World Cup. But quarter-finals are quarter-finals and so we’re going to have to really step up and go and analyse and come out with all guns blazing. But I believe my girls have what it takes if they stay in the zone.”

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