Hockey World Cup 2010 - India Vs England

INDIA FOUGHT BUT STILL LOST

England First Team To Make Semis

New Delhi: As expected, it was a bruising encounter. Englan wanted to seal the semifinal berth and India wanted to keep their hopes of breaking into the elite six alive. The result at the end said England 3, India 2. England got what they wanted and India. were left wondering what could have been.

           With the stadium packed with shouting, screaming fans once again, India walked in with purpose, keen to bridge the gap that the Europeans have steadfastly held onto. But what started with hope, turned into a battle for suvival for India.

           Like in the earlier two games, they conceded an early goal and then played catch up. Down 0-1 at half time, despite having more of ball possession, they came back fighting in the scond, only to see england's Ashley Jackson slot their first penalty corner home to make it 2-0. And soon after, it was 3-0, a melee inside Indian circle giving Jacson the opportunity to slip it past a helpless Adrian D'souza and a host of Indian defenders.

           It was here that a brave fightback happened. The Indians went for broke, diving, tackling, chasing and harassing the nippy Englishmen all over the turf. Those were a maddening 20 minutes. It was hockey at its racy best: with continuous attacks and counter-attacks. With the Idians coming at England's throat with such ferocity,something had to give way. It did.

          Gurbaz Singh snatched the ball at the halfline in the 54th minute and raced down the right flank with bounding.steps. He unleashed a cracker that went straight to a waiting Gurwinder Singh Chandi. The young sardar slotted it home withgout fuss. 1-3 and the crowd was going wild.

       Soon after, adrian made two brilliant saves and India moved up again in a counter, changing flanks to confuse the English defenders. It was a superb move that ended with a Shivendra Singh pass to Sarwanjit who flicked it towards Rajpal Singh to do the damage. 2-3 In the 57th minute, England were rattled and the noise inside the stadium was deafening.

           After that, India kept u[ the templ, looking for that dqualizer that would have given the perfect finish to the Saturday night story. However, after a nail-biting 13 minutes of pulsating Indian charge, England managed to walk away with yet another win, their fourth straight here which made them the first team to enter the Hero Honda World Cup semifinals.

          So, what emerged in the final analysis? The match showed that India have the heart to fight, they have some players who can match the best but they lack in finishing skills.

         First, penalty conrners: Inida got two in the first half and both were waved by England, Sandeep Singh and Diwakar Ram failing to make the drag flicks count. England got just one and they converted.

         Indian midfield yet again had a good game, with Gurbaz excelling on the right and Sardar Singh and Arjun Halappa giving England enough jitters. However, the forwards, who also fought hard, could have conerted a few chances -- in both halves.

            Inida had five scoring chances in the first half and failed to get a single goal. That made a huge difference. The heartening bit was the improvement in defence. The Indians did a lot of running, closing down gaps.

        However, they would have once again realized that no mistake goes unpunished at this stage. India's task was made tougher in the last five minutes when Gurbaz and Sardar Singh were shown yellow cards.

          They now have South Africa on the cards. They have to win it to avoid ending up in the 9-12 bracket, Saturday's performance should give them heart for that challenge.

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Hockey Australia Vs Spain

THE WORLD CUP HOCKEY 2010

Australia Vs Spain

 

Aussies unstoppable

Doerner On Target As Lacklustre Spain Go Down Tamely

     New Delhi: "We will have to play for the fifth position. " This declaration from spanish coach Dani Martin was as disappointing as his team's show againt Australis on saturday..The 2-0 loss not only firually ended their hopes of making the semifinals from Group B in the Hockey World Cup but left a bitter taste in the mouth as they conceded defeat before making a match of it.

      To be sure, spain, with six points from four matches, aren't out of the race yet, at least mathematically. But to make that giant leap, they will have to pray for an Aussie loss to Pakistan in their final league match on Monday and hope that they defeat England by a colossal margin. In reality,though, that is mission impossible.

       What went wrong on satuday was easy to guess. Spaine capitulated in the second half.Spain were inexplicably slow, pushing the ball to the flanks and working laboriously along the line. Yes, they did make an impact whenever they reached the circle, forcing in all eight penalty corners.

       One man who could have made the difference -- Eduard Tubau-- was a passenger upfront. Pol Amat and Pau Quemada were also out of form. And that was quite a contrast when compared with their performance in the first half, where numerous chances, created with clinical work on the midfield by Miquel Delas and David Alegre, came dangerouly close to fetching them the lead.

       But then, they had a resolute Aussie defence and goalkeeper Nathan Burgers to contend with. Australia did not look too hassled, although coach Ric Charlesworth complained about poor umpiring in the tournament yet again. But they stook out in consistency and that fetched them rich dividends.

        The first goal came in the 20th minute when luke Doerner converted their first penalty corner, The other came 40 minutes later, Glenn Turner cleverly guding home a Robert Hammond pass.

         Later, in the press conference, the Austalians were their typical selves, refusing to look ahead to the semifinals until they had completed their job in the league.

       "We have the advantage as far as goal difference is concerned, but at this stage of the tournament that certainly does not guarantee a place in the semis, " said Aussie skipper Jamie Dwyer. Charlesworth was disappointed withy the umpiring decisions.

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Hockey World Cup Pak Vs SA

Hockey

No succour for sorry Pakistan

       New Delhi: "We can't play any worse than this, " admitted Pakistan coach Shajhid Ali Khan after his side was out played 4-3 by South Africa in a Pool B match of the Hero Honda World Cup on Saturday. The defeat, rheir third in four matches, ended Pakistan's flickering hopes of reaching the semifinals.

      Pakistan's loss came against a side who were duubbed 12-0 by Asutralia just two days back. But to their credit, the South Africans put the desapointment behind and played some inspired hockey to earn their first points fof the tournament.

          Pakistan took the lead in the 6th minute through Rehan Butt but that was all they could do in the first haof even though chanced came their way. They looked far from convincing in their approach and probably also paid the price for underestimating their rivals.

       After the break, south Africa returned a completely different team. They slammed home four goals in a span of 16 minutes taking advantage of a sloppy Pakistani defence. Goals by Gareth Carr (38th minute), Lan Haley (41st), Taine Paton (46th) and Marvin Harper (54th) made it difficult for Pakistan to bounce back in the match. And while Pakistan did strike two late blows through Muhammad Imran and Waseem Ahmed, it did not suffice.

       A disappointed Khan said after the match that they lost the match in the second half. "everything was going okay for us in the first half. The video umpire also disallowed a goal which I think was a clear one."

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