Rani Rampal’s perfectly executed goal in the 47th minute handed India a 1-0 win over South Africa and a berth in the women’s semifinals of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, on Tuesday.
The victory took India’s points tally to nine from four outings, the same as England, but the Indians would finish second in the group due to inferior goal difference.
(Read more: Follow all the updates on an action-packed day six for India here.)
The winner was a vintage Rampal goal. She calmly collected a through pass from Vandana Karatia, turned around to beat the goalkeeper and then neatly slot home to the delight of the entire team.
Speaking in the Sony studio, former Indian skipper Viren Rasquinha was also euphoric about the goal and not just the finish. “I can watch that goal all day. Not just for the world class finish by Rani Rampal, but for the build-up from their own half and the assist by Vandana,” he said.
Till that goal, India had not been able to create many scoring opportunities despite dominating possession as South Africa defended well and were quick to close in on the Indian midfield.
India could manage just 18 circle penetrations in the 60 minutes but South Africa were no better, entering the opposition citadel just eight times with no shots on goal.
The only time the teams could have scored apart from Rampal’s strike were through the two penalty corners each of them won during the play.
South Africa did try to push for an equaliser in the last three minutes and were even awarded a penalty corner but the Indians successfully used the video referral to get the decision turned around and saw off the remaining time to make it to the last four stage.
