South Africa continued their Olympic journey with a challenging encounter against world number 2, Argentina. This match marked just the second meeting between the two sides in Olympic history, with Argentina winning their previous clash by a large margin in London. Adding to the challenge for South Africa, their most experienced player, Dirkie Chamberlain, was ruled out, and Kayla Swart had the opportunity to emulate her older brother and become an Olympian.
The game began poorly for South Africa as Argentina scored early. However, the umpires had missed a foot violation, which was well noticed by Erin Christie, leading to the goal being disallowed. Despite Argentina’s pressure, South Africa’s defense, led by Anelle Lloyd, held strong. Near the end of the first quarter, South Africa earned a penalty corner, and Antonet Louw’s low, hard drag shot found the back of the net, giving South Africa the lead.
In the second quarter, Argentina won an early penalty corner, but their deflected effort went wide. Despite South Africa’s defensive efforts, Argentina equalized through Augustina Gorzelany’s near-post penalty corner. Argentina continued to threaten but failed to capitalize on their chances, including another disallowed goal for lifting the ball on the first strike from a penalty corner.
South Africa produced an outstanding counter-attack led by Taheera Augousti, which saw Celia Seerane’s cross well saved. Shortly after, Kayla Swart’s lifted cross earned South Africa a penalty corner. From this, Quanita Bobbs fed the ball to Kayla de Waal, who deflected it home, putting South Africa ahead 2-1 at halftime—a surprising result.
In the second half, Argentina’s frustration showed as they received two green cards, reducing them to nine players for a minute. Despite this, Argentina saw out the suspensions without conceding. An exciting counter-attack from South Africa almost resulted in a goal, but Mokoena couldn’t control the ball in the circle. Argentina won a penalty corner in the final minute of the third quarter but failed to capitalize, leaving the score 2-1 in South Africa’s favor.
Early in the final quarter, South Africa missed a counter-attack opportunity, and Argentina quickly won a penalty corner. Gorzelany executed perfectly into the bottom left corner, leveling the score. With 10 minutes remaining, Argentina believed they could win and secured another penalty corner, with Gorzelany completing her hat-trick. Julieta Jankunas extended Argentina’s lead to 4-2 with a brilliant shot from the right of the circle. Argentina’s increased intensity in the final quarter overwhelmed South Africa, who ultimately had to settle for a two-goal defeat despite a tremendous effort.
SA captain on the day Quanita Bobbs reflected on the result:
“It was a tough day today. It was really hot. We had a great first half. We set about to get the first outcome and we did exactly that. I think we just ran out of steam in the final quarter unfortunately but overall I am tremendously proud of our team. We know what we need to do in the next games and we will go out and do it!”
Source: sahockey.co.za | July 29, 2024
