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While Australia is the first team qualified for the semi finals of the Rabo Hockey Junior World Cup, their fellow final four partners will not be decided until a dramatic final round of Pool matches in Rotterdam tomorrow.
Australia secured their place early in the day and then watched as Argentina and Korea faltered to give the chasing teams hope.
Australia’s comprehensive 3-1 win over Germany justified their inclusion in the final stages of the tournament. They never gave Germany a chance in their Pool F clash and were ahead in the fifth minute before scoring twice more in the first half to lead 3-0.
Germany couldn’t handle Australia’s pace and skill and must now hope that results fall in their favour to finish in the top two in the Pool and reach the semi finals.
In the day’s opening match, Pakistan’s Junior World Cup hopes ended with a 1-0 draw to Argentina. Pakistan entered the tournament with high expectations but an inability to covert goal scoring chances ultimately ended their journey in the tournament.
Argentina leads Germany by two points in second place in the Pool. The Germans must defeat Belgium tomorrow and then rely on Australia beating Argentina to have a chance.
A draw might even be enough for Argentina, with a superior goal difference at this stage an advantage for the Pan American champions.
If Argentina draw with Australia, Germany must defeat Belgium by five goals to snatch second place in the Pool.
Working against Argentina’s semi final campaign is their inability to score goals. Five goals in four matches (six from five matches when their match against South Africa is taken into consideration) is not enough for Junior World Cup aspirants and they must find their touch in front of the net warrant a place in the medal matches.
For the second match in a row, Argentina missed a penalty stoke today that would have given them a win. The conversion of either of these two opportunities (the other was against Belgium on Sunday) would have put them into the semi finals without the pressure of tomorrow’s clash against Australia.
The other match in Pool F (which had no bearing on the semi final race) was an entertaining contest. Malaysia jumped to a 2-0 lead before Belgium scored twice to level the match. However Malaysia steadied through the drag flicking of Zulkifli Mohd Rejab and slotted another two to win 4-2.
While two teams are still in the hunt from Pool F, Pool E could hardly be closer, with Korea, India and Spain all locked on nine points and with a goal difference of +4 after the day’s play.
Both India and Spain gained ground on previous Pool leader Korea to draw level with just one match remaining before the semi finals.
India’s form is on the rise after they controlled their match against Korea before winning 3-1. It moved the defending Junior World Cup champions them into the equal lead of Pool E with only tomorrow’s match against England remaining.
India jumped to a 2-0 lead after 16 minutes through Birendar Lakra and Tushar Khandhar and before conceding a goal just before half time to but their margin to one goal.
However when Sandeep Singh flung a drag flick past the Korea penalty corner defence, India’s win was confirmed and they moved into second place in their Pool.
Spain continued their solid form by silencing the large home crowd with a 2-1 win over Netherlands. The Dutch were the day’s biggest losers, succumbing to the reverse stick of Spanish captain David Alegre to virtually end their hopes of a place in the final four.
They are now three points behind the leading trio and need to defeat Korea and then hope that either of India or Spain fall. The one glimmer of hope for the Dutch is their goal difference, but the odds are stacked heavily against everything falling into place.
At the end of tomorrow’s play, the margin of victories might decide the make-up of the Pool E semi finalists with Korea scheduled to play the Netherlands, and India and Spain clashing with England and Egypt respectively.
Working against Spain in the low number of goals they have scored. If points and goal difference is still equal after tomorrow’s matches, then the number of goals scored by each team is taken into consideration.
In the third match in Pool E, Egypt stunned England and leapt to a 2-0 half time lead in a scrappy match. England struggled with the enthusiasm of the Egyptians and were lucky to score late in the match to level 2-2.
In Pool G, South Africa recorded their second win in as many days, dismissing Poland 5-1. In the other match, Chile worked hard in the first half before finally overcoming Mexico 5-1 also. The scoreline flattered Chile slightly, with two of their goals scored in the final six minutes.
Pool E
India 3 defeated Korea 1
Goals: IND – Birendar Lakra FG 14m, Tushar Khandhar FG 16m, Sandeep Singh PC 57m; KOR – Sung Kweon Hong PC 34m
Egypt 2 drew England 2
Goals: EGY – Mahmoud Hanafy FG 14m FG 23m; ENG – Ashley Jackson PC 37m, Andrew Watts FG 66m
Spain 2 defeated Netherlands 1
Goals: ESP – David Alegre FG 17m FG 48m;NED – Olmer Meijer PC 50m
Pool F
Pakistan 1 drew Argentina 1
Goals: PAK – Mahmoud Muhammad Khalid PC 58m, Lucas Vila PC 62m
Australia 7 defeated Germany 1
Goals: AUS – Ian Burcher PC 5m, Eddie Ockenden FG 19m FG 62m, ColinHennessy PC 27m PC 38m, Tom Cleghorn FG 51m, Des Abbott FG 55m; GER – Tim Witthaus FG 49m
Malaysia 4 defeated Belgium 2
Goals: MAS – Zulkifli Mohd Rejab PC 11m PC 55m PC 60m, Kevinder Singh FG 22; BEL – Jerome Truyens FG 35m, Maurice Dubois FG 46m
Pool G
Chile 5 defeated Mexico 0
Goals: CHI – Alfredo Thierman FG 12m FG 45m, Diego Villaseca PC 48m, Alexis Berczely PC 64m, Frenando Fernandez FG 70m
South Africa 5 defeated Poland 1
Goals: RSA – Wayne Madsen PC 16m, Leroy Phillips FG 24m, Marvin Harper FG 34m, Thomas Hammond FG 51m, Pierre-Gerard Geldenhuys PC 60m; POL – Artur Semonowicz PC 62m
