Alegre brothers on target as Spain defeat Black Sticks
Pool C – Spain 3-2 New Zealand

Another large and noisy crowd turned out to watch host nation New Zealand’s Pool C clash with Spain, but sadly their side felt to a 3-2 defeat to the re-invigorated Europeans. The Black Sticks lead their opponents twice thanks to goals from Andrew Hayward and Blair Hilton but were pegged back by strikes from Ramon Alegre and Edi Tubau before Ramon’s brother David Alegre hit a brilliant winner four minutes from time.  

The victory leaves Spain in a strong position ahead of the final round of Pool C matches, but are still likely to need a win against The Netherlands on Saturday if they are to book their place in Sunday’s final.  

Spain’s Roc Oliva came close to opening the scoring early in the match with a smart deflection that travelled just wide of the target before New Zealand sent the home crowd into raptures when Andy Hayward netted with a 16^th minute penalty corner. Hayward’s low flick rattled the right post before the ball hit a Spanish foot and trickled over the goal-line.

However, Spain ensured that they went into the break level thanks to a 32^nd minute penalty corner from Ramon Alegre, who instinctively volleyed home following a good initial save from Black Sticks keeper Kyle Pontifex.

New Zealand re-established their advantage shortly after half time when Blair Hilton deflected into the goal following a great run from Shea McAleese, but again Spain hit back thanks to a classy reverse stick finish from mercurial striker Edi Tubau.

The latter stages of the game ebbed and flowed, with the home crowd desperate to see their side come away with all three points. Sadly they were to be disappointed when David Alegre crashed a powerful shot into the goal from a tight angle in the 66^th minute to effectively seal victory. New Zealand rallied hard in the dying seconds, but Spain held on for victory. 

Spain – New Zealand 3-2 – Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy Men 2011

> Spain are now 2nd in Pool C on 3 points. New Zealand and Netherland are on 1 point. They all still have a chance of reaching the final.
> Australia top the standings on 6 points and are already through to the final.
> Spain are now unbeaten in 5 successive CT matches vs New Zealand.
> New Zealand converted 1 of 2 PCs in this match and are now on 2 for 7 at Auckland 2011.
> Spain converted 1 of 3 PCs in this match and are now on 5 for 18 in the tournament.
> New Zealand have now conceded 2 PC goals from 16 penalty corners awarded to their opponents.
> Andy Hayward scored his 6th CT goal and his 2nd this tournament. All 6 came from penalty corners.
> Blair Hilton scored his 2nd goal of the tournament and his 3rd in CT competition. His 2 previous CT goals came against Netherlands.
> Eduard Tubau joined Billy Bakker (NED) on 4 goals this tournament, only Jamie Dwyer scored more.
> David Alegre has now scored in 7 CT tournaments. His record number of goals at a single CT event was 3 in 2007.
> Ramón Alegre scored his 1st goal at Auckland 2011 and his 6th in CT competition.

Spain – New Zealand (8 Dec 2011, 18:05) – Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy Men 2011

Head-to-heads

> New Zealand have won 1 of 5 Champions Trophy encounters with Spain (1W – 2D – 2L).
> This sole win came in their first CT meeting in 1978 (4-0). This was also New Zealand’s very first win in Champions Trophy competition.
> Spain are unbeaten in 4 successive CT matches vs New Zealand.
> Spain’s biggest CT win over the Black Sticks came in 2004 (3-1)
> The last meetings between these teams came at last year’s CT, when they negotiated a 4-4 draw in the 1st round. Spain beat New Zealand 3-2 in the play-off for fifth place. Simon Child, Nick Wilson, Roc Oliva and Santi Freixa all scored goals in both of these matches.  

Spain Facts

> If Spain suffer defeat against New Zealand, they will play in the Final 3-4. 
> Spain have reached the CT medal round for the first time since claiming silver in 2008. They failed to reach the semifinals in their last two CT appearances finishing 5th in 2009 and 2010. > Spain have converted 4 of 15 penalty corners awarded (30%)
> Spain have conceded 3 PC goals from 14 PCs awarded to their opponents.
> Gabriel Dabanch, Pau Quemada, Santi Freixa and Eduard Tubau are all on 3 goals so far at Auckland 2011. Only Australia’s Jamie Dwyer had scored more goals (6) after Day 3.
> Santi Freixa (34 goals) is ranked fourth on the CT all-time top scorer list after Taeke Taekema (47), Teun de Nooijer (42) and Sohail Abbas (41).
> Gabriel Dabanch has scored in every match for Spain so far this tournament.  

New Zealand Facts

> The Black Sticks have secured a top 4 CT finish for the first time since finishing 4th in 1978.
> New Zealand recorded their biggest CT win ever by beating Korea 6-1 on Day 2. In that game the Black Sticks also broke their record for most goals scored in a CT match.
> The Black Sticks are on 1 for 5 in terms of penalty corners converted (20%).
> New Zealand have conceded 1 PC goal from 13 penalty corners awarded to their opponents.
> Phillip Burrows and Shea McAleese are New Zealand’s top goalscorers so far this tournament at 2 goals each.
> Nick Wilson and Andy Hayward are NZL’s all-time top scorers in CT competition on 5 goals. Simon Child and Phillip Burrows are on 4 CT career goals.
> Dean Couzins’ has scored the only PS goal so far at Auckland 2011 in the match against Netherlands 3-3 which saw the Black Sticks come back from 3-0 down.