NAMIBIA’s national men’s inline hockey team lost the World Skate Cup final to Argentina in dramatic fashion in Roccaraso, Italy yesterday, after a sudden death goal in extra time.
Namibia had taken the lead just before half time when Luca Mentzel received a pass from Amandus Rottcher and scored from an acute angle, but Argentina came back with a vengeance in the second half.
They peppered the Namibian goals with regular attempts, but the defence stood firm until the final minute of the match when Owen Haiek equalised for Argentina shortly after a timeout break.
That sent the match into sudden death extra time and Argentina went on to snatch the winner when Hernan Shanly scored a superb solo goal.
The Argentinians celebrated jubilantly, while it was a bitter defeat for Namibia, but they can still look back to a great tournament, which once again underlined their improvement over the past few years.
Three years ago Namibia’s junior men’s team achieved their best position at the World Championships when they finished ninth overall, after winning the Nations Cup final, 4-3 against Colombia in Asiago, Italy. And now, with the senior team having made the Skate Cup final, it shows that they have become a force amongst the world’s leading inline hockey nations.
On Friday they were aiming to qualify for the Top 8 World Championships for the first time, but they could not beat a committed Slovakia team who won the match 6-3 after leading 3-1 at half time.
Slovakia took a 2-0 lead but Max Finkeldey opened Namibia’s account after 13 minutes.
Just before half time, Slovakia stretched their lead to 3-1 but Namibia once again narrowed the gap to a single goal early in the second half when Johannes Coetzee scored from an assist by Finkeldey.
That’s the closest they got, though, as Slovakia steadily pulled away to go 5-2 ahead with nine minutes remaining.
Amandus Rottcher pulled a goal back for Namibia after an assist by Coetzee, but Slovakia had the final say, scoring in the final minute to run out comfortable 6-3 winners.
The president of the Namibia Ice and Inline Hockey Association, Bernd Bajorat said Namibia gave a good account of itself.
“They played very well, and never gave up fighting for the puck, but unfortunately it didn’t go our way. The top eight are on another level, but we will get there in the near future. Our national team is improving year by year and with our development programs in place, we are reaching new exiting heights,” he said.
That put Slovakia through to the Top 8 Championship competition, while Namibia dropped down to the Bottom 8 World Skate Cup competition, where they faced Mexico in the quarterfinals later on Friday.
Kean Jean Redelinghuys gave Namibia the lead, scoring from a Valerik Hilbert assist after five minutes, while two goals in two minutes put Namibia firmly in control of the match.
Max Finkeldey made it 2-0, scoring from a Julian Dedig assist on eight minutes, while Amandus Rottcher made it 3-0 a minute later, scoring from a Coetzee assist.
Mexico opened their account just before half time, but Namibia soon went further ahead, with Pablo Laporte scoring from a Coetzee assist, while Rottcher scored his second goal from a Coetzee assist to put Namibia 5-1 ahead.
A further goal by Coetzee, from an assist by Henrik Jens Diekmann, made it 6-1, before Mexico added their second goal in the final stages of the game, as Namibia ran out comfortable 6-2 winners.
That put them through to the semifinals where they came up against Germany for the second time at the championships, after they had earlier beaten them 8-2 during the group stages.
In the semifinals Namibia were once again too strong for the Germans as they won the match 3-0 after leading 1-0 at half time.
Johannes Coetzee gave Namibia an early lead from an assist by Rottcher, but Germany provided tough opposition and it was only in the fional quarter of the match that Namibia managed to pull away.
A Rottcher goal on 29 minutes put them 2-0 ahead, while Keanan Simpson scored from a Coetzee assist five minutes later to seal the match for Namibia.
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