Match 20 – RSA 2 JPN 1

In a match dominated by both defences, South Africa has won a close match 2-1.

After trailing 1-0 from an early Japanese penalty corner goal, the South Africans ground their way back into the lead withy five minutes to go in a contest where goal shots were very hard to come by.

South African striker Greg Nicol continued his goal scoring form with two goals, joining Pakistan’s Sohail Abbas on top of the goalscorers leaderboard with six.

South Africa next face England on Tuesday.

Japan’s Olympic dreams are essentially over.  They play Netherlands on Tuesday and will need to rely on other (unlikely) results in order to finish in the top four of the pool.

RSA Goals: Nicol 2 (FG 43m, PC 65m)
JPN Goal: Yamabori (PC 14m)