Just use 28-year-old South African men’s hockey player Jethro Eustice as an example.
With two minutes remaining and the score 1-1 in the final of the African Cup for Nations between South Africa and Egypt on October 29 and a qualification berth at the 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India up for grabs, the former Benoni Northerns Junior Hockey (BNJH) player performed for his country when they needed it most.
The former Arbor Primary School and Jeppe High School for Boys learner fired home a drag flick to give the South African men a tremendous win at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia, Egypt to book the golden ticket to the sub-continent.
Speaking about the tournament and that winning goal, Eustice said: “The tournament went off as expected.
“It was a tough challenge with many curve balls and unstructured plays from some of the teams involved.
“The conditions weren’t easy.
“It was seriously hot and there were mosquitos and flies aplenty.
“The Egyptians were our toughest opponents during the competition.
“We drew with them in the pool stage and then beat them in the final by a single goal.
“For me, scoring in the final was an unbelievable feeling and making it count with only a few minutes left in the game made it that much more amazing.
“I love contributing to this team and I was glad that I had the final say.
“I get goosebumps watching the video of that goal.
“There have been many amazing moments in my hockey career, but this was definitely one of the most important games and performances.
“I was fortunate that I had a really good rhythm going into the final having scored from two penalty corners in previous games.
“Captain Tim Drummond said to me, ‘flick the ball to your strongest side, and we will score’, so I did exactly that.
“The flick came off well and felt amazing because I knew if it went past the defensive runner it would be a goal.”
The national team star just came off the back of the South African Indoor Hockey Inter-Provincial Tournament (IPT) in Durban where he won the coveted Player of the Tournament Award for the third consecutive year.
“I really enjoy my indoor hockey,” said Eustice.
“I am glad to be doing well in both my indoor and outdoor careers.”
“2017 has been an amazing year for me, winning both the men’s indoor and outdoor IPTs as well as being the Player of the Tournament for both these tournaments.”
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