Germany embraces hockey to the tune of two men’s gold medals and two bronze finishes in the past four Olympics.
Meanwhile rugby-mad South Africa have never come close to an Olympic podium.
So when David met Goliath in Tokyo on Thursday, there were gasps as South Africa scored two second-half goals to overcome a 3-2 deficit against Germany.
Forget the qualifying scenario for a second, Germany coach Kais Al Saadi lauded their opponents as they were rewarded with a world top 10 place in the FIH rankings.
“That’s a really, really hard team to control with all of those fast strikers,” said Al Saadi, who from 2009-12 was assistant coach to the German women’s side, the 2004 Athens gold medallists.
Continue reading...
Unlock ALL our premium content for 3 months for only £1...and get use of our subscriber-only app for a better reading experience.
Simply select Monthly or Yearly subscription and use coupon 3FOR1 when prompted.
Already a subscriber to our website? Login
Follow Olympic news, features and interviews
Full Tokyo Olympic schedule and matches
Subscribe AD FREE to our coverage by unlocking our best content
