a powerful India defeated South Africa 5-2 in a classification game on Saturday in Rourkela, scoring twice in each of the first and fourth periods to tie for ninth place overall. India, ranked sixth in the world, was awarded six penalty corners during the game and scored one from them, while South Africa, rated fourteenth, was awarded three penalty corners but failed to score from any of them. South Africa only has 22 circle penetrations, compared to India’s total of 31. The home team had almost 60% of the ball possession and had 14 shots on goal compared to South Africa’s nine.
In the fifth minute, Abhishek, the game’s player of the match, gave India the lead before captain Harmanpreet Singh scored on a drag flick in the 12th minute.
Both teams failed to score in the second quarter, despite India’s continued offensive efforts and numerous circle penetrations.
India, which had a 2-0 lead at the break, had 15 circle penetration compared to South Africa’s eight.
Amit Rohidas received a yellow card in the third quarter, forcing India to play five minutes with one fewer player.
However, India’s Shamsher Singh scored a goal in the last seconds of the third quarter once Rohidas returned (45th).
In the second half, the South Africans performed better because they made more circle penetrations than in the opening thirty minutes.
It was an exciting game as there were four goals total—two from each team—in the fourth quarter.
India scored its fourth goal in the 49th minute thanks to a great collective effort. Jarmanpreet Singh fired a low cross from close to the right side off of a Raj Kumar Pal ball, and Akashdeep easily tapped it in.
However, only a few seconds later, Mvimbi Samkelo (49th) of South Africa scored their first goal of the game. Samkelo handled a long scoop from a teammate inside the Indian “D” and then sent a strong shot past India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh.
India went down a man in the 50th minute as Sukhjeet received a yellow card for a foul and was given a five-minute suspension. But South Africa was unable to take advantage of this.
In the 58th minute, Sukhjeet came back to score India’s fifth goal. Sukhjeet was in the correct location to slam the ball home after Akashdeep’s reverse shot rebounded off the South African goalkeeper.
With just one minute remaining in the game, Sreejesh fouled Cassiem Mustaphaa in the Indian circle, earning South Africa a penalty shot. India won this World Cup for the final time as Mustaphaa himself stepped up and converted the penalty kick.
“We didn’t anticipate that we would end this way (at joint ninth). However, we have not dropped a single game during this World Cup (lost to New Zealand in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw). We have performed well against New Zealand, with the exception of the third and fourth quarters (in which India gave up a goal each), according to captain Harmanpreet Singh.
“We could have performed better against New Zealand in those two quarters. We produced a lot of scoring opportunities and played solid defence.
It was a “excellent learning,” according to Harmanpreet.
“In the future, I’ll pay closer attention and get better. We will work to address any weaknesses we identified during this tournament before the following important competition.There will be rest for 9-12 days and then we have to be at the national camp.”
In the day’s earlier matches, Argentina defeated Wales 6-0 to tie for ninth place with India, while Malaysia defeated Japan 3-2 to finish their campaigns in joint 13th place with France, who defeated Chile 4-2.
Wales and South Africa placed joint 11th, while Chile and Japan received the last place (joint 15th).
India had also come in ninth place in 1998 and 2014. In 1990, 2002, and 2006, they had placed 10th, 11th, and 12th, respectively.
