03 Feb, 2025 An intense, action-packed and utterly thrilling spectacle was promised ahead of the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup and the teams duly delivered on the opening day in Poreč, Croatia. An impressive total of 107 goals were scored across the opening 12 matches with Namibia’s women claiming a memorable victory over Australia and two-time defending men’s champions Austria having to dig deep to beat fellow title contenders Poland. Men: Pool B The men opened the tournament with a riveting encounter as Iran, bronze medallists at the 2023 event and currently ranked second in the world, took on 12th-ranked Argentina. Hamid Nooranian opened the scoring in fine style for Iran, showing exceptional skill in tight space down the left side. The teams went on to trade goals with Argentina looking dangerous throughout, and it was only at the end of the third quarter that Iran managed to open a two-goal lead. Argentia pulled one back, but Iran secured their hard-fought 5-3 win with a late goal. After missing the 2023 tournament, reigning European champions Germany returned to World Cup action against debutants Malaysia. The Malaysians were still in contention at 4-4 after 25 minutes, but Germany took control with eight unanswered goals for their 12-4 win, Nicolas Proske and Ben Hasbach grabbing four apiece. Women: Pool B The women’s tournament kicked off with a tight match between Austria, silver medallists at the 2023 Indoor World Cup, and Poland, silver medallists in last year’s EuroHockey Indoor Championship. A goalless first half was indicative of uncompromising defence from both teams, and it was only in the final minute of the third quarter that Austria eventually broke the deadlock with a penalty stroke. Poland grabbed a late equaliser for a share of the points, and their player of the match Marlena Rybacha put things into perspective: “Obviously you want to win all the time but at the end, I’m happy with the point. Every point counts.” Debutants Thailand and South Africa played out a 4-4 draw, leaving all four teams locked on 1 point each. Men: Pool C Belgium found themselves under pressure against Namibia with the scores locked on 4-4 at the end of the third quarter. Namibia survived a four-minute yellow card unscathed, but a green card early in the final quarter allowed the Belgians to bag two quick goals, and they added another in the closing seconds for a flattering 7-4 win. Australia then chalked up three unanswered goals in the first quarter to set up a comfortable 7-2 win over Trinidad & Tobago. Women: Pool C The Namibian women came from behind for a famous 3-2 win over Australia. The match looked set for a draw before Jivanka Kruger, Namibia’s player of the match, rounded off a series of exquisite passes to fire her team home with a little over two minutes remaining. An ecstatic Kruger warned: “Just watch us for the whole week, we never ever give up.” In the next pool game it was Germany, the reigning European champions, who were ruthless in dispatching New Zealand 9-1. The Germans are hunting a record-breaking fourth FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup title and five goals from Ines Wanner saw them wrap up the match comfortably. Men: Pool A Austria’s hunt for a third consecutive World Cup title got off to a good start with their hard-fought 6-2 win over Poland, who were silver medallists in the European championship. Poland have genuine title aspirations after beating Austria in that European campaign, and they went ahead twice in the match. The Austrians fought back to carry a slender 3-2 lead into the final quarter before showing their class with three goals to secure the win. Austria’s Fülöp Losonci was player of the match with a crucial hat-trick and said of his team’s poor start: “I think we wanted too much, we played too hectic, and then we calmed down, played our game, and we see if we play our game it’s going to be hard to stop us.” Meanwhile, tournament hosts and debutants Croatia went down 8-6 to South Africa despite Mario Mucić firing them ahead in just the second minute and Lucas Bachmann bagging five goals on the night. South Africa found themselves trailing 1-3 before surging back. Mustapha Cassiem led the charge with four goals as he extended his remarkable 42-match scoring streak while Hans Neethling contributed a hat-trick. Women: Pool A Hosts Croatia suffered a 7-1 loss in their debut against Belgium, Daphne Gose-Claessens claiming 4 goals in the process. Czechia came from behind to close out the day’s action with an exciting 5-3 win over The United States. 3 February 2025 Results Men Result: Match 1 (M) Iran 5 – 3 Argentina Player of the match: Sasan Hataminejad (IRI) Umpires: Sean Edwards (ENG), Zeke Newman (AUS) Result: Match 2 (M) Germany 12 – 4 Malaysia Player of the match: Paul Dösch (GER) Umpires: Pieter Hembrecht (NED), Salman (INA) Result: Match 3 (M) Belgium 7 – 4 Namibia Player of the match: Philippe Simar (BEL) Umpires: Salman (INA), Lukasz Zwierzchowski (POL) Result: Match 4 (M) Australia 7 – 2 Trinidad & Tobago Player of the match: Jake Staines (AUS) Umpires: Michael Pontus (BEL), Ivona Makar (CRO) Result: Match 5 (M) Austria 6 – 2 Poland Player of the match: Fülöp Losonci (AUT) Umpires: Pieter Hembrecht (NED), Abby Macarthur (WAL) Result: Match 6 (M) South Africa 8 – 6 Croatia Player of the match: Hans Neethling (RSA) Umpires: Michelle Meister (GER), Salman (INA) Women Result: Match 1 (W) Austria 1 – 1 Poland Player of the match: Marlena Rybacha (POL) Umpires: Abby Macarthur (WAL), Kristy Robertson (AUS) Result: Match 2 (W) South Africa 4 – 4 Thailand Player of the match: Somlak Suttiprapa (THA) Umpires: Michelle Meister (GER), Ana Ortega (ESP) Result: Match 3 (W) Australia 2 – 3 Namibia Player of the match: Jivanka Kruger (NAM) Umpires: Ben Goentgen (GER), Rachel Williams (ENG) Result: Match 4 (W) Germany 9 – 1 New Zealand Player of the

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The South African Indoor Hockey Men, powered by Tops at SPAR, produced a sublime performance to overturn an early deficit into victory against hosts Croatia on the opening night of the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup in Poreč. Croatia came out firing with a brilliant goal from their captain Mario Mucic. South Africa would level with a reactive strike from Hans Neethling after a save but Croatia roared forward netting a brace through Lucas Bachmann to lead 3-1 at the first change. South Africa performed a tactical switch in the second quarter and immediately started seeing better opportunity with the ball. Captain Dayaan Cassiem was leading from the front and it was his brilliant drive that set up his brother Mustapha with the chance to pull back to 3-2, the half time score. With the wind in their sails, the South Africans came roaring forward and found the equalizer with a perfectly executed roundhouse flick from Cassiem to double his tally. South Africa had the upper hand and made it count with both Neethling and Cassiem netting again to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 advantage at the end of third quarter. Bachmann scored his second of the game in the final quarter to ignite hope for the Croatians but immediately Dayaan Cassiem pulled the strings and set up Neethling who finished his hat-trick to re-extend the lead to two. Cassiem himself then scored with a brilliant change of direction before his brother converted his fourth of the night from a penalty stroke. Croatia would score two late goals from penalty corners, one converted by Bachmann, the other by Gregor Fujs, but on the opening day it was job done for the South Africans who secured an important opening day victory against the hosts. Source: SAhockey.co.za | February 3, 2025

02 Feb, 2025 With just a few hours left till the start of the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup Croatia 2025, we spoke to the players and coaches of the participating teams about their aims and aspirations for the event. Listen in to what they had to say on the cusp of the tournament start: Nikolas von Zech and Hagen Streit (Head coaches, Croatia): “For both of us head coaches, the tournament means the fulfillment of a long-held dream of being a coach on the sidelines at a major international tournament. We are really looking forward to the arena, the audience and all the teams from all over the world. The world is visiting Porec. We, Croatia, are certainly the team that nobody expects anything from, so we can play without any pressure. But we are not here just to be good hosts or tourists; we want to represent Croatian women’s hockey in the best possible way. We want to bring 100% passion, courage and team spirit to the field and thus win over the audience.“ Dominic Giskes (Head Coach, Germany Women): We have a very good team together and have developed a good plan. The anticipation is immense. We’ll be happy when it finally starts. I already had a lot of fun at the European Indoor Championships in Berlin. It will certainly be a cool event. Abby Burnett (Captain, United States Women): After our performance at the Rohrmax Cup, I expect our team to perform very well and compete with the top European teams. This event is very special for the entire team. We have been working very hard and playing for coach Jun Kentwell always means a lot. Personally this tournament is super special to me as I’ve been on this team for such a long time and the girls on this team mean so much to me. Our main goal or objective is to win a medal, but to also prove that USA field hockey is a dominant force. Tikhamporn Sakulpithak (Captain, Thailand Women): We are thrilled to take part in our first World Cup. Together let’s play beautiful hockey with kindness and respect! Matthias Witthaus (Head Coach, Germany Men): The anticipation is growing. Three of the boys are certainly in a very good mood. They have just become German champions indoors. The team has not yet been able to develop. But communication is going well. That’s the big challenge: we want to become a real team in the short space of time, all vanities have to be pushed aside. We want to grow together quickly, all pull together and then be successful. Robin Rösch (Head Coach, Austria Men): We are looking forward to a great world championship. For many of us, this will be the last dance. Maxi Garreta (Coach, Belgium Women): Preparation has gone very quickly, but we’re happy with the work we’ve done. The Vienna tournament was an important factor in the rest of our preparations. Our objective for the World Cup is to get through the group stage, and then we’ll see. World Cup is the most important event in indoor hockey. It’s a chance to measure ourselves against the best nations in the sport. Maxime Bergez (Coach, Belgium Men): Our preparation is based on the same large group as last year. Our tournament in Austria gave us a lot of information about how to improve. We are now ready to compete at the highest level of Indoor hockey. We want to win the 1/4 final (after losing the shootout thriller against Iran in 2023) to fight for a medal. Our team Is a balance between young talent and experienced players and we want to use it to perform. The Infoor Hockey World Cup is the biggest indoor hockey competition. The players invested a lot of time and energy to be ready for an event like that. The Indoor Red Lions showed that they can compete with the best in Europe. It is time to shine worldwide. Dayaan Cassiem (Captain, South Africa Men): I’m really excited for South African mens to be in the world cup again after a beautiful one in Pretoria. I can’t wait for it to start as we have been working hard as a group. We are here to make ourselves and the country proud. Jamie Southgate (Captain, South Africa Women): The team is really looking forward to the fierce competition and excited to go up against the best teams in the world that an event like this makes possible. I wish all the teams the best and we will make sure our team will leave everything out on the court. Juan Ignacio Eleicegui (Cpatain, Argentina Men): For us it is always a dream to represent Argentina. And to do it with such a united team makes it even more special, it is a reward for all the effort of a great group. Our main goal with this team is to place Argentina on the World Cup podium for the first time in history. We know it will be very, very difficult, but we dream of raising our flag to the top. For more information about the upcoming FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup Croatia 2025, click here. Source: FIH.hockey