Despite a 1-1 draw against world No 3 Argentina, South Africa became the first team to exit the Hockey World Cup in London on Saturday. Bronze medallists at Rio Olympics, Germany, beat Spain 3-1 to top Pool C.

The African continental champions needed a big win to overturn their goal deficit and move above Spain in the pool. Jade Mayne’s goal just before the end of second quarter helped their cause. But Maria Granatto equalised for the Las Leonas in the 47th minute with a good field goal.

Argentina had notched up 26 shots and 13 penalty corners in contrast to South Africa’s two shots.

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“What I saw out there was a team who had too much energy and no thinking. There was an air of desperation and going forward too quickly. We had 13 penalty corners and we didn’t score. That is too many opportunities for only one outcome,” said Argentina Head Coach Agustin Corradini after the match.

Speaking after the game, South Africa’s Nicolene Terreblanche explained that the team went onto the pitch determined to get a result from their final pool match.

“We had nothing to lose. We said ‘flip guys, we need to be one-on-one solid defensively,’ and we did that. And our ‘keeper, she was phenomenal today. In the first game we didn’t do well, you cannot afford to start the tournament how we did. If you can play well from the first game then you get into a stronger position and you get momentum.”

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It was the first time that South Africa had taken points from the world number three team in a major international since their 2-2 draw at the Madrid World Cup in 2006.

Anne Schroder, Selin Oruz and Viktoria Huse were on target in Germany’s win over Spain. The teams went into the half-time break at 1-1 with Maria Lopez’s 30th minute penalty corner cancelling out Schroder’s goal. But the Germans intensified their attack in the second half to score twice and secure their quarter-final berth.