Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 817 Wed. September 13, 2006  
   
Sports


Battle on for last four


Favourites the Netherlands defeated England 4-3 at the men's field hockey World Cup championship here Monday but their semifinal berth rests on the outcome of other teams' results.

The Dutch must beat India in its last pool match Tuesday and hope Germany falters against South Africa or South Korea to be able to make the semifinals.

"We will wait and hope," said Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans.

James Tindall scored two field goals and Richard Mantell a sizzling penalty corner conversion for England's three goals.

Teun de Nooijer and Ronald Brouwer scored field goals for Netherlands, who wrapped up the game thanks to two penalty corner goals by Taeke Taekema.

"We are hopeful we will be in the playoff for fifth but we have a lot of work still to do," said England coach Jason Lee.

Argentina unexpectedly upset Pakistan 1-0 and Pakistan must win against Australia in its last Pool A match and rely on Spain losing to winless Japan for Pakistan to make the semifinals.

Matias Vila fired a penalty stroke inside the left post eleven minutes into the second half for the only score of the match.

Sohail Abbas missed seven penalty corner attempts for Pakistan.

"We played on emotional forces rather than tactics today (Monday) and I am thankful to all the players who gave everything on the pitch," said Argentina coach Sergio Vigil.

"This was a crucial match for us and we did everything right, except score, said Vigil's counterpart Shahnaz Sheikh.

South Korea converted a penalty 80 seconds from the final hooter to beat India 2-1 after India held a 1-0 lead early in the second half.

India has only one Champion-ship point, from its draw with South Africa.

If India loses to Netherlands in its last Pool B match, India will play off for ninth to twelfth place.

South Korea moved to 10 points and is a strong contender for its first-ever semifinal berth in a World Cup.

Shivendra Singh scored India's goal ten minutes after the break and South Korea had nine penalty corners in the second half with Jong Hyun Jang converting the last two with powerful flicks into the top of the net.

"We had to play open hockey because we needed the three points from this match and that opened us up to penalty corners being awarded against us," said India coach Vasudevan Baskaran.

New Zealand suffered its first loss of the Championship, beaten 3-1 by Spain.

But Kiwi coach Kevin Towns was confident his side could make the semifinals by beating Olympic champions Australia.

"We are overdue for a win against Australia and they are a weakened team and a very different team, without Matthew Wells and Grant Schubert," Towns said.

Spain sealed their 3-1 win with goals from David Alegre, Santiago Freixa and Eduard Tubau.

Alegre opened the scoring after nine minutes from a build-up by Eduard Tubau. Sojo earned a penalty corner nine minutes later, which Santiago Freixa converted high into the right of the net.

Spain scored again in the first minute of the second half with a goal created by Freixa's work along the right and a pass to Tubau free at the top of the circle who made a thundering drive into the backboards.

Hayden Shaw converted New Zealand's second penalty corner and the Kiwis found another gear as strikers Simon Child and Phillip Burrows made seven powerful shots which went wide of goal in the second half.

"I was happy with our performance in the second half but not happy with the first half or the final result," Towns said.

Picture
Argentine Lucas Vila (R) plays the ball ahead of Pakistan's Muhammad Saqlain (L) during their hockey World Cup encounter in Moenchengladbach on Monday. PHOTO: AFP