Johannesburg – South Africa's world record hockey goalscorer Pietie Coetzee is confident the women's team will give a thrilling performance when they take on the Australian Hockeyroos on Saturday in Cape Town.
The South African team, who will be playing their second Investec Challenge semi-final, squared 1-all with the Aussies in a tense round-robin tie on Tuesday.
“It was the most dramatic match I have ever played in and I am confident that Saturday’s semi-final will be another cracker,” said Coetzee.
“We will draw huge energy from our home crowd if the turnout and support at Tuesday’s game is anything to go by.”
Despite not scoring in her last two matches after a magical run of 11 goals in five matches, Coetzee was happy with her form and even more excited by the potential in the young forwards around her.
“Yes, I am happy with my form in the last two games and as far as scoring goals is concerned, it’s just a case of every match presenting different opportunities.
“So, scoring or not scoring depends on the situation in that moment, but what is really exciting is how the SA strikers are gelling as a force up front,” said Coetzee.
She praised her partners in the strike team and said the likes of Dirkie Chamberlain, Bernie Coston and Sulette Damons were on the verge of adding an ever-increasing number of goals to their personal accounts.
“Our aim is to play attacking hockey and the cohesion is paying off with the number of entries into the strike zone so it’s just a matter of time before we will start scoring many more goals once our technical skills match up to the plentiful chances we are creating as a unit.” – Sapa