Super Spain destroy Great Britain
Spain 8-1 Great Britain

Santi Freixa and Roc Oliva both scored twice as Spain produced a simply sensational performance to defeat Great Britain 8-1 in their final match of Pool A. It was a magnificent display from the Spanish, who came back from 1-0 down to score four times in either half to seal their place in Pool C, which keeps alive their hopes of winning the Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy.  Great Britain will now play in for 5-8 in Pool D.

Despite a couple of early Spanish chances, the early stages of the game were dominated by Great Britain, who pressured the circle but failed to create clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities. It was the Brits who opened the match scoring midway through the half when Barry Middleton was on hand to force home a penalty corner rebound from close range following a from Ashley Jackson.

Conceding the goal only served to inspire the Spanish, who hit back almost immediately when a completely unmarked Edi Tubau received the ball in front of goal before calmly slotting past Great Britain keeper George Pinner, who was making his Champions Trophy debut. Incredibly, Spain then hit two more goals in quick succession as the normally solid Great Britain defence was undone by the movement of the lightning quick Spanish forwards.  Pau Quemada drilled home Spain’s second before team captain Santi Freixa exploded into the Great Britain circle before producing a stunning shot which rattled into the goal off the left post.

Spain’s fourth goal arrived five minutes before half time and confirmed that luck was very much against the British, as Gabriel Dabanch’s push shot bounced back off the post before hitting GB keeper Pinner and rolling over the goal-line.

The Spanish forwards continued to terrorize the British defensive line in the early stages of the second half, with Freixa and Tubau in particular proving too hot to handle.  A fifth goal soon arrived, and it was defender Juan Fernandez who slid in to slap home a loose ball from the right in the 44^th minute.

Great Britain saw good second half chances go begging through Glenn Kirkham and Mark Gleghorne, but Spain were far more clinical with their chances as Santi Freixa netted a sixth before Roc Oliva produced a marvellous finish from an glorious Edi Tubau pass. Oliva completed the scoring with a blistering penalty corner flick in the final minute, giving Spain a magnificent victory which secures their place in Pool C where they will compete for the 1-4 places. 

Spain – Great Britain 8-1 – Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy Men 2011

> Spain reach the Last 4 of a Champions Trophy tournament for the first time since 2008 when they were ranked 2nd.
> Spain have reached the Last 4 for the eighth time in 21 CT participations.
> Today’s 8-1 win over GB marked the biggest victory for Spain in CT history.
> Spain joined Netherlands and Australia as only teams to have ever scored 8 of more goals in a CT match. The record is 10 goals by Australia in their 10-3 victory over Spain in 2009.
> GB suffer their biggest CT defeat. Before today GB and England had never lost by more than 5 goals in CT competition.
> Spain’s Gabriel Dabanch, Santi Freixa and Pau Quemada are all on 3 goals at Auckland 2011 after today’s match.
> Spain converted 1 of 5 penalty corners in this match and are now on 4 for 15 for the tournament.
> GB converted 1 of 6 penalty corners in this match and are now on 2 for 13 for the tournament.

 Great Britain (6 Dec 2011, 12:05) – Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy Men 2011

Head-to-heads
> Spain have won 6 of their 10 previous CT encounters with Great Britain (6W-2D-2L).
> Spain and Great Britain last played each other in the 2007 Champions Trophy in Kuala Lumpur. Spain won both encounters winning 5-0 in the 1st Round and 4-2 in the Final 5-6.
> GB’s last CT victory over Spain dates back to 1987 when they won 5-1.
 
 
Spain Facts
> Spain need at least a draw to progress to Pool C. 
> Spain failed to reach the semifinals in their last two CT appearances finishing 5th in 2009 and 2010. 
> Spain have converted 3 of 10 penalty corners awarded (30%)
> Spain have conceded 2 PC goals from 8 PCs awarded to their opponents.
> Gabriel Dabanch (2 FG) and Pau Quemada (2 PC) have scored 2 goals each for Spain. Only Australia’s Jamie Dwyer had scored more goals (3) after Day 2.
> Santi Freixa (PC) and Eduard Tubau (FG) are the other Spanish goalscorers.
> Santi Freixa (32 goals) is ranked fourth on the CT all-time top scorer list after Taeke Taekema (46), Teun de Nooijer (42) and Sohail Abbas (41).
 
 
Great Britain Facts
> Great Britain need to beat Spain in order to qualify for Pool C.
> The last time Great Britain finished in the top4 of a CT tournament was in 1987 (4th). Their best result was claiming silver in 1985.
> Great Britain have converted 1 of 8 penalty corners awarded (12%)
> Great Britain have conceded 2 PC goals from 8 PCs awarded to their opponents.
> Simon Mantell has scored in every match for GB at Auckland 2011 (2 goals).
> Mark Pearn (FG vs Pakistan) is the other British goalscorer at Auckland 2011.