Pakistan staged a stunning comeback in their Pool ‘A’ game, which leaves Pakistan captain Umar Bhutta feeling optimistic about the team’s chances of finishing in the top two and advancing into the semi-finals.
Umar said, “We played well today,” and that the team will continue to give their best in the next match against New Zealand. Umar also mentioned that the team is aiming for a spot in the semifinals with hope of playing Nigeria or Finland.
Pakistan will face Scotland on Aug 3 and Australia on Aug 4.
“We will try to avoid repeating the same mistakes in our next matches,” Pakistan’s Dutch coach Siegfried Aikman told reporters.
In the first quarter, Pakistan and South Africa started aggressively. Eventually, it was the South Africans who took the lead in the 14th minute when Connor Beaucamp converted a penalty corner.
When Pakistan was awarded a penalty corner, their striker scored the goal. Immediately after this point, South Africa attempted to enter the circle but they were unable to create a scoring opportunity.
As Pakistan had more shots, circle entries and penalty corners, South Africa played with more confidence. But their defense was able to thwart their moves.
The third quarter came, and Pakistan failed to convert their penalty corner and missed a close chance.
South Africa was ahead of Pakistan with one minute left when the ball struck the face mask of the on-pitch referee. The game became 2-1 with five minutes remaining.
Pakistan scored a penalty corner near the end of the game, so they did what needed to be done when they scored.
In the other Pool ‘A’ match on Saturday, New Zealand and Scotland drew 5-5.
