Netherland Still Unbeaten In 2010 Hockey World Cup

The Netherlands kept their semi-final hopes alive with a well carved 3-1 win against New Zealand.

The Netherlands won their second game in as many matches in group A of the World Cup. On Wednesday night, the Dutch scored an emphatic 3-1 win at the National Stadium. All goals came in the first half.

Taekema kept his lead at the top of the goalscorers chart when he scored one of Holland’s three goal, yet again from a penalty corner. Taekema, who scored a hattrick against Argentina, has four goals so far.

However, it were the Black Sticks who got off to a sensational start when skipper Philip Burrows tore into the Orange defence and slammed one past keeper Guus Vogels. The game was barely 45 seconds old.

The Dutch equalised within seconds. In a stunning counterattack, Robbert Kemperman cut through a nervous Kiwi defence and hit blazing hit came off the Kiwi goalie. The rebound off was slotted home by the veteran Ronald Brouwer.

Taekema, in the seventh minute, and Jeroen Hertzberger, in the 27th helped the Dutch take a 3-1 lead. The Teun de Noojier led team was more intent on preserving their lead in the second half than trying to peg the Kiwis further back.

The men in Orange raced to the top of the Pool with six points while Germany follow close on four. Korea also at four points, are now placed third with New Zealand at fourth. Canada and Argentina bring up the rear of the group.

The Dutch, got a chance to go ahead in the seventh minute after they were awarded a penalty corner. Taekema converted the opportunity to take his tally to four goals in the World Cup, all of those through penalty corners. In the process, the Dutchman left Germany’s Florian Fuchs in the second spot with three goals.

Hertzberger, who had been attacking from the right flank frequently, at last hit bull ’s eye in the 27th minute to leave New Zealand reeling at 1-3.

The second session saw the Dutch adopting a more defensive approach, determined as they were to preserve their two goal lead.

However, what must have hurt Netherlands coach Michel van den Heuvel would be his wards’ inability to convert as many as four penalty corners through the match.

The Kiwis, obviously, fared no better, missing all three penalty corners. Blair Hilton stormed into the Dutch half towards the dying stages but a ferocious drag flick missed the goal post narrowly.That pretty much told the tale for a hapless New Zealand, who had started their campaign with a 3-1 win over Canada.

Last Minute Goal Provided Korea winner against Argentina

The last-minute goal from Hyun Woo Nam helped Korea edge Argentina in a Pool A thriller at the National Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday.

After a goal-less first half, the second half provided all the entertainment. Facundo Callioni put the South Americans ahead in the 53rd minute before Nam Yong Lee and Nam scored in last ten minutes to lead the Koreans to their first win in the tournament.

The match ended on a dramatic note as Sung Hoon Yoon, in the dying moments of the match, appealed for a penalty corner after the umpire whistled in the Argentines' favour. Video referral came into picture, overruling the umpire's decision. Nam did not miss what would certainly have been the Koreans' last chance as his low strike went past the South American goalie Juan Tomas Espinosa.

However, it was Callioni who drew first blood for Argentina as he slotted in a Juan Martin Lopez assist. Nine minutes later Lee scored his second goal of the tournament to equalize for Korea as he directed Jyo Sik You's pass into the goal with utmost ease.

The first half was of wasted opportunities for both teams. Coming on the back of a 3-0 defeat in their last match against Netherlands, Argentina could easily have scored two goals had it not been for a bad finishing from Luca Martin Vila on both the occasions.

In the 27th minute, all he had to do was tap in a Pedro Ibarra cross from 25 yards but he failed to reach the ball in time. The very next minute he again muffed it up as he lost the control of the ball in front of the Korean goalie after doing all the hard work of getting past a couple of Argentine defenders.

Earlier, Korea's second penalty corner in the 5th minute almost put them ahead but an alert Espinosa dived to his left to parry the scorcher from Hye Sung Hyun.

Korea next play New Zealand on Friday while Argentina take on defending champions Germany.

Defending Champion Wins First match in World Cup 2010

Defending champions Germany extended their unbeaten run in World Cup ties to 15 as they overcame minnows Canada 6-0 in their Pool A encounter at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Wednesday.

Benjamin Wess opened the scoring for Germany before Jan-Marco Montag, Maximilian Muller and Martin Haner netted through penalty corners. Youngster Florain Fuchs added two more after the break to consign Canada to their fifth straight defeat in World Cups.

Germany, who had drawn their opening tie against Korea 2-2, were easily the better of the two sides. They had 14 shots as compared to Canada, who had just 2. The champions won 8 penalty corners while Canada only had one

The Germans put pressure on the Canadian defence right from the start. They went ahead in the 3rd minute. Wess controlled a high ball on the right flank before rushing into the opposition circle. After a quick one-two with Oskar Deecke, Wess slotted past Canada keeper Dave Carter to make it 1-0.

Germany played sensibly after taking the lead. They kept majority of the possession and attacked Canada incessantly. But they were careful not to push too many men forward lest they be caught on the counter.

Germany won five penalty corners in the first half. After failing to convert the first two, they made the next three count. Montag and captain Muller scored in the 21st and 22nd minutes respectively, before Haner made it 4-0 in the 28th.

Canada attacked after the break but were always under the risk of a German breakaway and lost possession cheaply. Germany, on the other hand, seemed content with their four-goal advantage and played deep in their own half.

They did push forward whenever they won the ball but showed no real intentions of scoring. They won three more penalty corners but sent one wide while Carter saved the other two. They finally got a fifth in the 58th minute.

After some individual skill in the Canadian circle, Matthias Witthaus found Fuchs who scored the first of his two goals. Four minutes later, his reverse flick from a narrow angle beat Carter as he made it ten goals in nine appearances for Germany so far.

In the 66th minute, Canada won their only penalty corner of the match. The stopper failed miserably and that really summed up their day.With the win, Germany won their first match against Canada in world championships. Their only other meeting, in 1998, had ended 4-4.

New Zealand Wins In last Over Of Match - Aug Loss

First Win to the Kiwis in the 2010 Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. They have now won four ODIs on the trot against the Aussies at home.

They now lead the series 1-0 with four matches to go. After electing to bat first, Australia started off well with Watson(45 runs ) and Haddin, but then faltered in the middle overs, before Hussey(59 runs ), Hopes(33runs ) and Johnson(21 runs ) took them to 275/8. Given the small ground and the flat pitch, it was always going to be a difficult target to defend. McCullum and Ingram gave a blasting start to the Kiwis but the Aussies came back with three quick wickets.

Taylor(70 runs ) and Franklin nearly took Australia out of the game but Watson and Bollinger brought back the tourists into the game with couple of quick wickets. Australia started picking up wickets at regular intervals but it was the calm nerves of Scott Styris(49*runs ) that maintained New Zealand unbeaten at home in ODIs and broken Australia's unbeaten run.

Doug Bollinger picked up 2 wickets but none of the Aussie bowlers who were at their best at home bowled well enough to restrict the Kiwis.

Right then! New Zealand take a 1-0 lead! Australia did not have a great day either with the bat, ball or field and they need to step up their performance if they need to stop the unbeaten run of the Kiwis. The Aussie bowlers were excellent in their home turf but here, on foreign soil, none of the bowlers were impressive.

New Zealand, on the other hand, looked calm and composed throughout the game and were better than their opponents in all departments. The teams now head to Auckland for the second ODI on Saturday, the 6th of March, 2010

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH ROSS TAYLOR KNOCK OF 70.

When India Wins Against Australia - lost by 5-2

Champions Trophy winners strike form against India for first win in 2010 hockey World Cup.

High-flying India were shot down to earth by a robust Australian display that left a capacity crowd at Delhi’s National Stadium totally deflated on Tuesday night. The Champions Trophy winners dominated the group B contest against India and the 5-2 scoreline was an apt reflection of that. The Australian led 3-1 at halftime.

Conceding two goals in the first 8 minutes and then taking in another couple inside seven minutes after the breather ruined India. Australia missed a sixth goal when Jamie Dwyer missed a stroke in the 66th minute. Indian goalie Adrian D’Souza dived the right way to deny the Aussie skipper.India scored once in each half. A desperate Vikram Pillai converted a Gurbaz Singh cross at the stroke of half-time. And, in the 53rd minute, a rare flash of brilliance by veteran Arjun Halappa set up skipper Rajpal Singh for the second goal.

As has been their trademark, Australia made a Mike Tyson-like start, bulldozing the Indian defence from the word go. Before the Indian defence could settle down, Liam De Young had an easy passage into the scoring area and made it 1-0 in the third minute. Glenn Turner scored the first of his two goals in the 8th minute.

Turner scored Australia’s fifth goal in the 42nd minute after Like Doerner made it 4-1 five minutes after the change of ends. Both goals were gifts from a sloppy Indian defence that wilted under pressure after the early Aussie onslaught.But the best goal of the match came in the 27th minute. It was a classic three-man move initiated by Grant Schubert.

The Indian defence was dissected with clinical precision as Schubert weaved through and set up Desmond Abbot with the simplest of tap ins.Australia’s aggression paid off in a must-win game after England had stunned them in their first game of the world championship. Australia created numerous chances by playing long balls and using the wingers to telling effect.

The Indian deep defence had a horrible day as they left huge gaps for the Aussies to exploit.India barely created a chance in the first half. The half-line was non-existent but the wingers tried their best to test the Aussie defence. Quite a few passes travelled across the face of the Australian goal largely because the strikers were out of position.Australia resorted to zonal marking and always had extra personnel to take on the Indian forwards.

India’s biggest problem was releasing the ball. Gurwinder’s over-dribbling often left Prabhjot Singh begging for a goal-scoring pass.In spite of home advantage, India failed to overturn history. Australia scored their fifth World Cup win against India in seven matches so far. Fittingly, Australia were awarded the Ajitpal Singh-Ric Charlesworth Trophy after the match.