HOCKEY FINAL
AUSTRALIA Vs GERMANY
Rubof the green could
get Australians gold
New Delhi: Austalia and Germany, for the third time in eight years, will battle for hockey's biggest honour.
When action begins at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium, here on Saturday, the Germans will be on the threshold of a hat-trick of World Cup titles. The Australians, aiming for their second after 24 years, would hope to end a painful sequence of finishing runners-up twice in a row - to the same team, Germany Coach Richand Charles worth, though, lets bygone be bygone. "I was just an interested spectator in the last the last two World Cups. Here, the opponents are different, out team is very different, the coaches are different, I am different. This team can make its own history by doing justice to itself and winning the World Cup, " the player of the 1986 World Cup said.
Charlesworth, however, is mindful about his opponents in the jfinal. "It will be a difficult game for us, " said the man who guided the Austalian women to both World Cup and Olympic success.
The Germans, after all, are the only unbeaten team in the tournament. But like the Aussies started on an indifferent note, trailing 0-2 at one stage against South Korea. They fought back to draw but since then have looked the solid vaunted unit they are.
Coach Makus Weise has been guarded about his team's performance, castigating his charges after the matches against Canada and Argentina. However, he cannot be too unhappy with the way the team ended the pool engagements - especially against the Dutch where they trailed with seven minutes to go and against New Zealand when they regained control after letting a 3-0 lead slip to the narrowest of margins.
"We have achieved our aim of reaching the semifinals with a young team, " he said some what modestly. Don't however, rule out an endgame from the chess-loving Weise, who has already led Germany's Men's and Woman's teams to Olympic gold.
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