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| September 7, 2002 | Saturday | Jamadi-us-Saani28,1423 |
Pakistan earn rematch with India
Netherlands 5 Germany 2
South Korea 4 India 2
COLOGNE (Germany), Sept 6: Australian sport suffered a rare reverse here Friday as their men’s hockey team were consigned to playing for fifth and sixth places in the Champions Trophy after going down 2-0 to Pakistan.
Australia will play against Korea on Sunday for the wooden spoon.
India could afford a 4-2 defeat against South Korea in the final group match to finish third with seven points and will meet arch- rivals Pakistan (six points) in the bronze medal match.
The Koreans also had six points but an inferior goal difference to Pakistan. Australia finished winless last with zero points after losing 2-0 to Pakistan.
India, who beat Pakistan 3-2 in the group stage, are out to end a 20-year medal drought since their 1982 silver.
The team around veteran striker Dhanraj Pillay are expected to play much better than against the Koreans who won from goals Shin Seok Kyo (25th), Jeon Jong Ha (26th), Song Seung Tae (51st) and Kim Kjung Seok (67th).
Pillay (41st) and Gagan Ajit Singh (69th) scored for India.
Australia came last in the Champions Trophy only once before, in the 1996 tournament in Madras (Chennai).
Pakistan rebounded well from their 3-1 defeat by arch-foes India on Wednesday and were never in trouble after Sohail Abbas opened the scoring in the 22nd minute and Mudassar Ali Khan added the second in the 57th minute.
Australian coach Barry Dancer had opted to go into the game with an unusual line-up.
Experienced backs Dean Butler and Mathew Wells (playing his 100th game for Australia) started on the bench, leaving playmaker Jamie Dwyer off the team sheet and starting with Zain Wright and Ben Bishop as strikers.
Pakistan started without Khalid Saleem and Mohammad Shabbir and Ahmed Alam in goal.
Australia maintained good composure in midfield, controlling possession and pressuring Pakistan’s circle in the first quarter.
Bishop and Wright took time to adjust to the pace of the match, to assert their presence and be first to the ball.
From Pakistan’s first time in Australia’s circle, Josh Hawes conceded a penalty corner which Abbas converted with a drag flick high into the net to the right of Leon Martin in Australia’s goal.
Kashif Jawad forced Pakistan’s second penalty corner, putting the ball onto the feet of Australia’s defence in the circle.
The ball was left outside the circle at the battery from the pushout. A poor hit at goal was easily saved by Leon Martin.
Australia put itself under pressure in the third quarter with three turnovers of possession in the midfield including Scott Webster attempting to beat two of Pakistan’s defenders.
Pakistan then put pressure on Australia’s defence in the circle with free hits outside Australia’s circle and scored from this set piece.
Abbas took a free hit from the left top of the circle, finding Khan unmarked on the backline.
Khan weaved along the left backline and lifted a flick onto the stick of Ben Taylor who was facing the goal and the ball dropped into the goal.
Olympic champions Netherlands hammered world champions Germany 5-2 to win the group stage but will run into the defending champions again in the title match Sunday.
Bram Lomans, tournament top scorer Taeke Taekema, Maarten Froger and Ronald Brouwer reversed a 2-1 deficit as the Dutch assured themselves of their place in the final.
Matthijs Brouwer had given the Netherlands an early lead before Joern Emmerling and Florian Kunz gave the Germans the temporary lead.
The Dutch won the group stage as the only undefeated team with 13 points ahead of the Germans, who had already clinched their place in the final the previous day and remained on 12 points.
The Dutch started slow into the tournament with a last-gasp 3-3 draw against India but have been on a roll ever since. They slaughtered Australia 6-1, beat Pakistan 3-1 and Korea 4-2 and then added the big win over the hosts Friday.
Undeterred by the German 2-1 lead after 39 minutes, Lomans ignited the comeback with a penalty stroke just three minutes later.
Tournament top scorer Taekema made it 3-2 off a penalty corner in the 47th before Froger’s delicate chip from the right wing and Brouwer’s strike in the final four minutes wrapped up matters for the five-time winners.
But the Germans, who had won three of their four previous games in the closing seconds, were undeterred by the defeat and confident about their chances of winning the event a record ninth time on Sunday.
“We will see a different German team on Sunday,” said coach Bernhard Peters.
Team captain Kunz agreed: “The defeat will not hurt our confidence. We made some individual mistakes. We will improve on Sunday and I am optimistic that we can win the Champions Trophy.”—Agencies
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