NEW DELHI, March 9 Asian champions South Korea defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the men's field hockey World Cup on Wednesday, but still lost out on a semi-final spot to the Dutch.

Both teams finished the league with 10 points each, one behind group A leaders Germany, but the Dutch ousted the Koreans on a superior goal difference of plus-10 against their rivals' plus-eight.

In Thursday's semi-finals, defending champions Germany will clash with England, while the Dutch will take on group B leaders Australia.

The Koreans, Asia's lone survivors after India and Pakistan crashed out early, fought back after Ronald Brouwer gave the Dutch an early lead in the 25th second of the match.

Brouwer latched on to a pass from Teun de Nooijer, who left the Korean defence stranded with a speedy run down the centre soon after the start.

Both sides were locked 1-1 at half-time as Nam Hyun-Woo equalised for the Koreans with his team's first penalty corner three minutes before the interval.

The Koreans, who had won their last three meetings against the Netherlands, took the lead 10 minutes after resumption through a superb flick by captain Seo Jong-Ho.

The Dutch pressed for the equaliser, but found a penalty stroke awarded to them four minutes from the end disallowed by the video umpire.

The Dutch also earned a last-second penalty corner which Taeke Taekema, the top-scorer in the tournament so far with six goals, shot wide.

The Koreans, who finished third in the group, will clash with Spain on Friday to determine the fifth position in the tournament.

Germany, looking for a hat-trick of World Cup titles to add to the Beijing Olympic gold medal, outclassed New Zealand 5-2 earlier in the day.

The Germans led 2-0 at half-time through goals by Christophe Menke in the 15th minute and Florian Fuchs in the 28th.

Philip Witte made it 3-0 soon after the interval, but New Zealand hit back with two goals in four minutes from Shea McAleese and Nicholas Wilson.

The powerful Germans sealed their supremacy when Moritz Furste and Matthias Witthaus scored twice in as many minutes, both goals coming from rebounds off penalty corners.

Germany ended the league stage unbeaten in group A with three wins and two draws.

“It does not matter whom we play in the semi-finals and I don't care,” said German coach Markus Weise ahead of the Netherlands-Korea match.

“If you have to beat any team in the semi-final, you have to be at your best.

“New Zealand gave us quite a fright after scoring those two quick goals. It could have been the turning point of the match and we started to feel a bit shaky.

“Luckily, we got two more goals to decide the game.”New Zealand coach Shane McLeod, whose team finished with two wins and three losses, rued the 1-0 defeat against Argentina.

“That defeat cost us a semi-final place,” he said. “At 3-2 against Germany, I thought we had a good chance, but our defensive lapses helped Germany win.”—AFP