Coetzee scores in final game for SA
Veteran South African women's hockey star Pietie Coetzee marked her final game for the national team with a goal, as South Africa eased past Japan 2-0 and grabbed ninth at the Hockey World Cup in the Netherlands.
Coetzee, who took to social networking and tweeted her international retirement on the bus to the Kyocera Stadium in The Hague, scored the opening goal, before Dirkie Chamberlain added the finishing touches and ensured South Africa finished two places higher than their world number 11 ranking.
"The journey has been unbelievable. It's with great pride that I head to the field for one last time with the @sawomenshockey," Coetzee's tweet read.
Coetzee's 59th minute penalty-corner flick took her career tally to a remarkable 282 goals in 287 Test matches, before Chamberlain doubled South Africa's
lead from the penalty spot 10 minutes later.
Coetzee became the all-time leading goal scorer in women's international hockey in June 2011 with the third of four goals she scored in a 5-5 draw against the United States in the Champions Challenge in Dublin.
It took her to 221 goals, bettering the 20-year-old world record of Russia's Natalya Krasnikova.
The South African women now look ahead to the Investec Cup in London from July 9-13, followed by the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow from July 24 to August 3.
- Sapa