Namibia leave Trinidad and Tobago on brink of Hockey World Cup exit

Trinidad and Tobago's men's hockey team fell to their second straight loss at the FIH Indoor World Cup in Porec, Croatia when they were beaten 6-3 by Namibia in their pool C encounter at the Zatika Sport Centre on February 5.

Both teams fell to defeats in their opening games in the tourney, and a victory for either would have boosted their quarterfinal hopes.

The teams played out a goalless first quarter in the intense showdown, but the Namibians came to life in the second quarter as they slammed in three goals to take a 3-1 lead into the half.

Pieter Jacobs got the ball rolling for Namibia in the 13th minute when he flicked in from a well-worked penalty corner, with TT responding a minute later through Tarell Singh.

Namibia got three goals from penalty corners in the clash, and they hurt the TT defence from another set piece in the 15th minute when John-Paul Britz scored his first of two goals to restore his team's one-goal advantage.

Cody van der Merwe then netted in the 19th minute to give Namibia the ascendancy heading into the halftime interval.

"We tried to limit penalty corners against us in every game, but sometimes in the speed of indoor (games) that's tough (to manage) unless you really know the opposition's strengths in that particular position," TT coach Raphael Govia told Newsday via WhatsApp.

In the second half, TT fought back as they got a goal from a penalty corner of their own in the 23rd minute as Teague Marcano notched his second goal of the tourney with a flick into the top corner.

In the 28th minute, the "Calypso Stickmen" tied the game at three apiece when Jordan Vieira passed the ball beyond the reach of goalkeeper Richter van Rooyen from close range.

But Namibia surged ahead before the end of the third quarter, though, as Dakota Hansen rifled a powerful shot into the top corner to put Namibia 4-3 up.

In the final quarter, TT would have been hoping to stage a comeback, but Namibia pulled away to get their first win of the tourney as Britz grabbed his second goal and Nico Neethling scored the sixth and final goal in the 37th minute.

Govia said things didn't go according to plan against the Namibians in a game they saw as a must-win assignment.

"We really wanted to throw everything at Namibia as we really targeted them to get full points," he said. "However, collectively, we all must fire to be a force to reckon with.

"In my view, that has not been happening thus far. It's going to be tough versus Belgium no doubt, but that's what we are here for. In fact, in the crossovers going forward it's not going to be a walk in the park either, but (we'll take it) one game at a time."

TT are currently at the foot of the pool C table with no points and a minus-eight goal differential. Needing to finish as one of two-best third-placed teams to advance to the quarterfinals, Govia's team will need a herculean effort when they tackle group leaders Belgium from 3.10 pm (TT time) on February 6.

Belgium defeated Australia by a 7-3 margin on February 5 to get their second straight win.

"We're going to need to finish as one of the best of the third-placed teams," Govia said. "So that's also going to be a tough task, but we'll take things one day at a time."

The Namibia clash was a bruising one for TT, as skipper Darren Cowie suffered a neck injury after a tackle and goalkeeper Karlos Stephen was being monitored after a collision with an opponent left him in an almost-concussed state.