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The fifth day of the action at the FIH Hockey World Cup 2018 saw the Canadian side take on South Africa at the Kalinga Stadium in the capital city Bhubaneshwar of Odisha.
The first match of the day saw the Pool C teams play their second matches as the two underdogs from the pool faced each other. Canada and South Africa have been pooled with the hockey heavyweights Belgium and the hosts India in the Pool C.
Canada came into this encounter on the back of a loss against the Belgians which saw them test the Europeans and only lose by a margin of one goal (2-1) on the opening day of the competition. South Africa, on the other hand, suffered a humbling 5-0 defeat against the Indians.
The two sides hoped to get a win tonight to have a chance of keeping their chances alive of going through to the knockout stage.
The match started with South Africa taking control of proceedings on the court as they tested the Canadian resolve for the first two quarters. Canadian keeper David Carter kept them in the match with splendid saves as the score stood 0-0 at half time.
The second half started off with a promising third quarter that saw the sides come out in full steam and get a goal each as Nqobile Ntuli and Scott Tupper got their names on the scoresheet. The two sides kept attacking in the second half of the match but the keepers did well to keep the score at 1-1 as the two sides shared the spoils.
#3 Gabriel Ho-Garcia
Experienced midfielder Gabriel Ho-Garcia was a strong presence in the Canadian midfield. He kept the South African attacks in check in the middle of the park with his interceptions.
Ho-Garcia moved the ball well across the turf whenever Canada sprung into an attacking mode of play, especially in the second half of the match.
#2 Nqobile Ntuli
The South African attacking was led by forward Nqobile Ntluli on the left flank of the field.
He was a thorn in the Canadian defence with his pace and movement creating chances for the African team. He kept making runs past the defence to get into good positions for a chance at the Canadian goal but the keeper David Carter was tough to get past in the first half of the match.
It was Ntuli who broke the deadlock in the match when he finally managed to get the better of Carter. A swift attack by the Proteas saw Ntuli clear on goal on the left side of the circle, and he was quick to turn the keeper and slot the chance with a reverse hit to open the scoring in the match.
#1 David Carter
The South African attack was barraging the Canadian goal in the first half of the match with their pace and passing from the left and right wings. However, there was one man who was ready for whatever the Proteas threw at the Canadians- their custodian between the sticks, David Carter.
He was constantly called into action right from the initial stages of the match as the South Africans kept making their way into the Canadian circle. He brushed off a couple of hits from the forwards. He was at his best when the Proteas had a flurry of penalty corners in the first two quarters.
Carter stood bravely in the Canada goal and did not allow any of the penalty corners to sneak past, saving the drag-flicks from Austin Smith of the South African side. In the third quarter, he produced a stunning save to keep a low flick away from the goal and keep the scores level.
Head to Sportskeeda to check out the Hockey World Cup schedule for the upcoming matches from the 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup.
