Mustapha Cassiem proud of team mentality in draw against Australia

Cassiem scored a brace - making sure that South Africa shared the spoils with one of the tournament favourites. 

He added that the plan was to approach the match with a different mindset and set the tone ahead of the next stage.

“I think today was all about positive mentality and making sure that we prepare for the next stage of the tournament. I just want to say to the coaching staff and the players - everyone involved - that it was a really good performance. I believe we could have been more lucky if we took all our chances, but I’m proud of the team. We played against a very tough side,” said Cassiem.

READ: Paris-Gail Isaacs: We put up a hard fight

The forward, who was named Player of the Match against Australia, has now scored three goals in as many matches at the tournament. He credits the team’s collective effort for his performances.

“There’s a lot of history between these two teams. I’m glad we had a good fight. Yes, I trained set pieces a lot, and it showed today, but most importantly, I give credit to the team. We put up a good fight as a collective,” added Cassiem.

For South Africa, the result provides a significant boost heading into the 9th–16th classification phase, following defeats to Spain and Ireland.

Cassiem believes the performance against one of the tournament favourites showed what the team can achieve when they fight for one another.

“We now shift our focus to playing France, another tough clash. We are expecting a difficult game, but we are ready to give it our all,” he expressed.