• Hockey

Women's team enters World Cup top eight

• 2 Weeks Ago 06 February 2025

In a memorable day for Namibia men's and women's teams, both scored wins at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup in Croatia, with the women securing a historic quarter-final berth and the men having their knockout qualification hopes alive and in their own hands.



Men secure crucial victory

Namibia’s men delivered an important 6-3 victory over Trinidad & Tobago, ensuring they remain in contention for a second quarter-final spot after reaching the same stage at 2023 Pretoria.

Three goals in the second half – scored by Dakota Hansen, John-Paul Britz (his second of the match) and Nico Neethling – sealed the win after a tightly contested opening half, where Ernest Jacobs, Britz and Cody van der Merwe had put Namibia in control during the second quarter.

The plucky Caribbean team hung on for a goalless first quarter and levelled at 3-3 in the third, while over-eagerness and inaccuracy plagued the early Namibian efforts, before the later acceleration.

Head coach Trevor Cormack remained level-headed about the performance.

“I'm happy with the result, I'm just not happy with the play. I thought we really made a meal of it. It took too long to get into the game; we allowed them to stay in the game. So I'm not really happy with our play, but I'll bank the win.

“We were looking to improve our goal difference, and this result is not ideal for us.”

With their quarter-final hopes hanging in the balance, Namibia faces a winner-takes-all encounter against Australia late tonight (22:20).

Australia has a higher world ranking than Namibia (4th vs 14th) – but at the 2023 World Cup in Pretoria Cormack’s men sneaked into the quarter-finals and finished eighth, while the Aussies placed 11th out of 12 teams.

A win would let Namibia advance, while Australia’s better goal difference by one would be decisive in case of a draw.



Women makes history

Namibia’s women’s team delivered a statement performance, thrashing New Zealand 7-0 to book their place in the quarter-finals for the first time ever.

Following their groundbreaking 3-2 win over Australia two days before, the team displayed dominance against New Zealand, particularly in the second half.

Shayne Cormack’s takeover as coach has blown new life into the team that disappointingly finished winless and last out of 12 teams at the previous World Cup two years ago, losing 3-4 against the Kiwis in the 11th-playoff.

After a goalless first quarter yesterday, goals from Danja Meyer and Jahntwa Kruger before halftime broke the deadlock. Namibia continued turning up the intensity, with Azaylee Philander, Jivanka Kruger (twice) and Taramarie Myburgh (twice) finding the net in a commanding victory.

Kiana-Ché Cormack was named player of the match for her outstanding overall contribution.

Coach Shayne Cormack expressed praise for all Namibian coaches who have played a role in developing the team.

"I want to dedicate this one to all the coaches in Namibia that have gone before, that have helped these girls get to where they are. I want to dedicate this to Sedtric (Makati), to Melissa (Gillies), to Erwin (Handura) ... all who have gone before.

“Today was about unity, it was about completion, it was about trust, and today I just feel like the Lord came through for us, because our nation is so unified, and this win was for everybody at home.”

With their place in the quarter-finals secured, her team faces a tough final pool-stage match against unbeaten Germany today at 14:30. A strong performance against the European powerhouse (world ranking 6th) could further solidify their standing as one of the tournament’s surprise packages.

Germany’s dominant wins against Australia (7-0, yesterday) and New Zealand (9-1) leaves no doubt about their high world ranking (6th). Their star player Ines Wanner has racked up eight goals in these two matches.