The Egyptian national team lost its third game against South Africa 2-0 in the Hockey African Cup for Nations held in City Park Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya.
The South Africans had already beaten Egypt 6-1 and Ghana 6-2 in the first round of the competition. They are the highest seeded team in the competition and have officially qualified to the world cup finals in the Netherlands in May 2014.
Egypt played Ghana 21 November, beating them 4-3 in a highly competitive game. Egypt came back from a 2-0 loss to win the game. Their win against Ghana gave them a chance to contend for a spot to reach the world cup while also seeking retribution from the South African team. However their hopes were shattered after South African player Clint Panther scored South Africa’s second goal two minutes from time.
The South African Hockey Association said that their national “men’s hockey team withstood a fierce Egypt challenge to win the Africa Cup of Nations.”
According to the association, the team’s coach Charlie Pereira was unhappy with the refereeing, saying that “the umpires missed some critical moments, Wade Paton got a stick to the chest from an Egyptian player, and Jonty Robinson was taken out badly; those are red card moments that didn’t happen.
“On one occasion we were prevented from taking an attacking free-hit because defenders weren’t five yards from the ball yet no sanction was given. That should be sin-bin straight away,” he said.
