November 28, 2025

South Africa opened their FIH Junior World Cup campaign with a 4–0 defeat to defending champions Germany in Tamil Nadu, but the scoreline only tells part of the story after a spirited and disciplined display from the African champions.

South Africa kicked off the tournament knowing the size of the task against the seven-time winners. The teams last met at this level in Malaysia two years ago, where South Africa produced a brilliant fight in a 5–3 defeat, and with this year’s competition expanded to 24 teams for the first time, every moment carried added significance.

The opening quarter was encouraging from a South African perspective. Germany enjoyed the bulk of possession, as expected, but South Africa were composed, compact and resolute, refusing to allow many clear chances. In fact, the best opportunity of the quarter came from South Africa’s lone penalty corner, reminding the Europeans that they were in a contest.

Germany eventually broke through with a moment of breathtaking quality. A rapid transition from back to front carved open the defence, ending with Justus Warweg producing a superb first-time deflection to make it 1–0. South Africa responded positively, and Brett Horn twice found space late in the half, firing one effort inches wide. The halftime break arrived with Germany leading narrowly, the South Africans having contained them impressively.

Early in the second half the pressure told. A defensive tangle saw a stroke awarded, and although Johannes Schoeman got a touch to Ben Hasbach’s effort, he couldn’t keep it out. Germany struck again just 90 seconds later through captain Glander from a penalty corner after South Africa were unable to clear their lines, stretching the lead to 3–0.

Still, South Africa went hunting for a goal, often threatening through the movement and intent of Litha Kraai and the dangerous Brett Horn. However, the final touch wasn’t there in Tamil Nadu; or it was shut down by strong goalkeeping from Ditzer. Germany sealed the result through Warweg, who reacted sharply to beat Schoeman for his second of the match.

Despite the final score, South Africa showed promising patches of structure, bravery and attacking ambition against one of the world’s elite junior nations. With two more pool matches ahead in this historic expanded World Cup, they will take lessons and belief into the remainder of the tournament.

They are back in action on Saturday at 10:00 taking on Ireland looking to bounce back with a big performance. You can watch the game exclusively live on Watch.Hockey

Source: SAhockey.co.za