At the Hero Honda FIH World Cup 2010 in Delhi, England and Spain were impressive and won over Pakistan and India on similar scores (5-2), while Australia crushed South Africa (12-0)
Game 13 – South Africa v. Australia: 0-12 (half-time: 0-5)
The first game of the day was between South Africa and Australia, a first in World Cup history. The last time these teams met was at the 2008 Olympic Games, when Australia crushed South Africa (10-0), and the last time the African Champions won over the Kookaburras was at the 1998 Commonwealth Games (3-2). Australia opened the competition with a loss to England (2-3) but came back to beat India (5-2), while South Africa were still chasing their first point.
As in their first two games, South Africa started strongly and forced the first penalty-corner, but Justin REID-ROSS’ low drag flick was countered by runner Kiel BROWN. Australia were quickly in the driver’s seat, earning a penalty-corner by Jamie DWYER, at the origin and conclusion of a vast attacking move that swept the whole field. But the Kookaburras’ routines are not tuned yet ad they could not produced anything. Brendon BOTES in the South African goal saved his team with a desperate dive to push away a ball that was rolling agonizingly slowly on the goal line.
The game was very open, with some spectacular shots at both ends, but it is finally on a penalty-corner that Australia scored in the 15th minute by Luke DOERNER. They added one goal soon after by Glenn TURNER, left with an easy tap-in in the empty goal after a solitary counter-attack by Jamie DWYER ripped apart the South African defense. There was now constant trouble in the South African circle and Desmond ABBOTT added a third goal when he pounced on a loose ball, turned around and slotted a reverse-stick shot high out of reach of Brendon BOTES.
The South African keeper was left on his own a few minutes later to face three Kookaburras, but he managed to protect his goal. Luke DOERNER and Fergus KAVANAGH added penalty-corners and things were really looking bleak for the South Africans going into the break (0-5).
The African Champions tried hard at the beginning of second period but their cause soon became desperate when Matthew BUTTURINI added a sixth goal by cleverly beating Brendon BOTES and Luke DOERNER completed his hat-trick of penalty-corners in the 49th minute. The rout continued relentlessly, to end up with a final score of 12:0, the highest margin in World Cup history, with Luke DOERNER ending up with 4 goals.
Match facts (South Africa v. Australia):
> The Kookaburras recorded the biggest ever win in World Cup history beating South Africa 12-0.
> The biggest World Cup winning margin till today was 9 goals.
> Australia also equalled Pakistan’s 28-year-old World Cup record for most goals scored in a match by a single team (12).
> In 1982 Pakistan defeated New Zealand 12-3.
> At the 2008 Olympic Games, Australia had crushed South Africa 10-0.
Game 14 – England v. Pakistan: 5-2 (half-time: 2-0)
England, unbeaten so far in the competition, started with a bang and thought that they had taken the lead in the third minute when Iain MACKAY batted into goal a ball lifted into the circle by a Pakistani defender, however the goal was disallowed by the video-umpire after a lengthy review.
The match continued at high pace but both defences were compact and there were few serious scoring chances until a penalty-corner for England. Richard MANTELL’s powerful high flick had the keeper beaten but it shaved the outside of the port. England nevertheless went first on the scoreboard in the 21st minute by Jonty CLARKE, diving to deflect high in goal a perfect cross from the left by James TINDALL. Immediately after, James FAIR in the English goal protected the advantage with a superb save in full extension on a Sohail ABBAS penalty-corner.
Pushed by the crowd filling in the stadium for the India game later in the day, Pakistan were trying hard to tie the game, but their defense was caught flat footed by Ashley JACKSON, sneaking in their back to deflect in goal a hard pass by Barry MIDDLETON from outside the circle. Two goals down, Pakistan went into the break looking dejected and with a lot of work to do to come back in the game.
Shakeel ABBASI was the most dangerous forward for Pakistan and another one of his deep penetrations earned a penalty-corner, but Sohail ABBAS was definitively off his usual lethal form and James FAIR gloved the ball away without too much problem. It took a spectacular solitary effort by Shakeel ABBASI through the whole English defense for Pakistan to reduce the score in the 45th minute. Things were suddenly looking brighter for the Green Shirts and another penalty-corner gave them a chance to equalize by Rehan BUTT, after the initial shot was saved again by James FAIR.
Unfortunately, England lost central defender Richard MANTELL on the play after a nasty collision with an attacker. Just when it seemed that they would struggle through the last twenty minutes, England regained the lead by Barry MIDDLETON, deflecting on the run a cross from the right. James TINDALL had a golden opportunity soon after on a one-on-one with Salman AKBAR in the Pakistani goal, but his reverse stick shot went wide.
Pakistan were handicapped in the final minutes by a yellow card to Muhammad IMRAN and Jonty CLARKE scored his second goal of the game with a hard shot from a narrow angle and Barry MIDDLETON added a fifth goal in the 64th minute. Three goals down and one player short was too much for Pakistan and the European Champions cruised to a spectacular win to maintain their unbeaten streak in the competition.
Match facts (England v. Pakistan):
> England beat Pakistan by three goals their biggest winning margin over Pakistan in World Cup competition.
> England have won 4 of their 8 World Cup matches against Pakistan, drawing 2 and losing 2.
> England go top in Pool B with 9 points from 3 matches.
> Eight England players have now scored at least once at the 2010 World Cup.
> Ashley Jackson is now on three goals in this world Cup.
Game 15 – Spain v. India: 5-2 (half-time: 2-0)
The last game of the day between Spain and host India started in the usual boisterous atmosphere. The pundits have been harsh towards the Indian team after their severe loss to Australia, but the crowd in the stadium was as devoted as ever, screaming their hope each time an Indian player was moving forward.
In this fiery atmosphere, the players needed to pass on their initial nerves with some long and spectacular runs and a few attempts on goals that did not really threaten Francisco CORTES or Sreejesh Parattu RAVEENDRAN in goals. Xavi LLEONART earned a penalty-corner after stealing a ball in the circle from a careless defender, but it was well defended. Then Albert SALA temporarily silenced the crowd when his shot on the run from the top of the circle beat RAVEENDRAN to open the scoring, but cheering only redoubled soon after.
Spain survived a wild scramble in front of their goal, with the keeper on the ground and a flurry of sticks trying to reach the ball, and India were saved by the post and equally lucky at the other end. The crowd “ooooooohed” in unison when Francisco CORTES pulled two fantastic flying saves in the Spanish goal but was stunned when Spanish Captain Pol AMAT deflected in goal a cross from Alex FABREGAS in the dying seconds of the period, giving a precious two-goal cushion to his team going into half-time.
India pushed forward as soon as play resumed and Sandeep SINGH reduced the gap on a penalty-corner, sending up a deafening roar that immediately informed the whole city of Delhi of the goal. This triggered a flurry of goals in the span of a few minutes, first Pau QUEMADA and Roc OLIVA for Spain, then Gurwinder Singh CHANDI for India, pushing the score to 4-2!
The game became a furious battle raging from end to end, with Spain clearly on their heels but holding tight to maintain their lead. With time passing, the Indian forwards started to abuse of individual runs, spectacular and crowd pleasing but rarely efficient. India had a few more chances, including on penalty-corners, but Francisco CORTES was pulling a phenomenal performance and Pau QUEMADA closed the debate with his second penalty-corner of the match in the 67th minute.
Match facts (Spain v. India):
> Spain beat India 5-2 to collect their second win at the 2010 World Cup.
> Today’s 5 goals equalled Spain’s scoring record in World Cup matches. They also scored five times in 1973 (5-0 vs Belgium) and 2002 (5-1 vs Japan).
> Spain join Australia on 6 points from 3 matches. Only England (9 points) did better in Pool B.
> India and Pakistan are on three points from 3 matches.
> This match saw three goals being scored in three minutes time (41’, 42’, 43’). This marks the fastest set of three goals at the 2010 World Cup.
> The South Africa – England (4-6) match saw three goals being scored in four minutes time (50’, 51’, 53’).
> Albert Sala’s goal was the first for Spain in a WC match against India in 24 years.
> Pablo Amat netted once. He has now scored in all four World Cup editions since 1998. The only other player to have scored in ever WC since 1998 is Sohail Abbas (PAK).
The Hero Honda FIH World Cup 2010 continues on Friday in Delhi when Korea face New Zealand, The Netherlands meet Canada and Germany conclude the day against Argentina.
For additional information, pictures, video clips, official game sheets, and more, please check the special FIH event site @ http://www.worldhockey.org/worldcup/.
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