Day 5 at the Samsung Champions Trophy in Malaysia was full of surprises as Great Britain booked a convincing win against Pakistan, Spain defeated Australia, and Malaysia only caved in to Korea in the last minutes of the match. In the fourth match of the day, old European rivals Germany and the Netherlands slit points in a highly exciting encounter.
Great Britain and Pakistan started off the day with the first big surprise. Pakistan had played better in the tournament so far, while Great Britain had been struggling to put together attractive hockey. Today however, it was all different - the first few minutes, Pakistan pressured and seemed to be taking control, but a goal from Stephen Dick, tipping in a great pass from Barry Middleton, set the Brits on a march. They added two more first half goals through Rob Moore and Simon Mantell for a convincing half-time lead, without leaving the Greenshirts any time to catch their breaths.
After the break, Pakistan finally found their feet and played aggressively, scoring in the 49th minute through Imran Muhammad, flicking in a penalty corner. A minute later, play was suspended as the pitch began to flood. It had been raining for a while, but at that point, the field had become unplayable.
An hour later, play resumed when the rain had let up and the pitch dried. Pakistan still tried their best but had lost the momentum they had been able to build coming in after half-time. They conceded a fourth goal midway through the second 35 minutes, and picked up two yellow cards late in the match. Two man down, they were unable to challenge their opponents, and Britain celebrated the unexpected win elatedly. This defeat effectively ended Pakistan´s bid for the final, while Great Britain take a step towards the bronze medal match.
The two European rivals Netherlands and Germany split the points after a very entertaining game of fast paced hockey. They first traded penalty corners in the first 20 minutes (Taeke Taekema for the Netherlands then Florian Keller for Germany) but the Netherlands had the better part of the game and were rewarded in the 27th minute when Rogier Hofman received the ball in the clear, ran twenty meters, beat the keeper at the top of the circle, eluded a retreating defender and finally slotted the ball in goal with a superb reverse shot!
The Netherlands maintained their pressure on the German defense for most of the second half, except for a short period between the 56th and 58th when lapses in their defense were promptly exploited by Jan Marco Montag and Florian Keller (his second goal of the game) to give an unexpected lead to Germany.
The Netherlands were however not willing to let all their efforts wasted and scored another goal by Rob Reckers to tie the score and salvage a point from the draw. They are now in 4th place in the pool table, while Germany, despite the draw, are comfortably established in first place.
On pitch 2 today, Australia took on Spain. With the Kookaburras having collected 3 victories from 4 matches, while Spain had picked up a measly two points from two draws and two defeats, one might have assumed that it would be a clear thing, but Spain showed from the beginning they are never to be underestimated.
A tenth minute penalty corner goal from Edi Tubau brought them the advantage, and they added a second goal before the break when unlucky Aaron Hopkins deflected a ball from Santi Freixa across the face of the goal into the net. Australia showed some good hockey too, but were rarely dangerous, and could not capitalize on any of the few opportunities they had.
Especially penalty corners seem to be turning into a nightmare for the Kookaburras: including today, they have had 24 in the tournament, far more than any other team, but they have only converted a single one. That penalty corner goal actually came today, when Luke Doerner put away a powerful flick in the second half, getting Australia on the scoreboard and taking the score to 1-2. The goal gave the Aussies hope, and one player up after a yellow card for Rodri Garza, they attacked for all they were worth.
But instead of the equalizer, it was another goal for Spain as Santi Freixa finished off a fast counterattack, tipping the ball over the line. The last fifteen minutes of the game were hectic, as Australia desperately attacked and Spain went all out to preserve their win. With two minutes to go, Australia scored a second goal through Nathan Eglington, but they ran out of time, and Spain were relieved to have won their first match of the event. This defeat seriously hurts Australia´s bid for the final, while their first three points put Spain on the way to at least avoid the 7th/8th playce play-off.
Host Malaysia offered another stunning performance to their home crowd, playing way above their ranking in this competition. After going down one goal early in the game on another penalty-corner by Jong Hyun Jang, they shocked the Korean with two spectacular field goals by Selveraju Sandrakasi and their Captain Azlan Misron to reach halftime leading 2-1.
The Korean progressively increased their pressure in the second half, but it is not until the 53rd minute that they finally managed to break through the Malaysian defense on a deflection from close range by Dae Keun Oh to tie the game. The Malaysians were desperately trying to salvage the draw, fighting hard to hold back the Korean incessant attacking waves. But in the last minute of the game, Hyo Sik You managed to penetrate the circle and beat cleanly the Malaysian keeper to give a late, a rather lucky, lead to Korea.
With two rounds of pool play remaining, Germany still top the table, three points clear of Korea, with Australia and the Netherlands following close behind. Great Britain, Spain, Pakistan and Malaysia are in the bottom half of the table.
The Samsung Champions Trophy Kuala Lumpur 2007 continues tomorrow when Australia meet the Netherlands, Pakistan take on Korea, Spain lock horns with Great Britain, and Malaysia conclude the day with their match against Germany.
Samsung Hockey Champions Trophy, Men
Results day 5: Wednesday 5 December 2007
Great Britain - Pakistan 4:1 (3:0)
15. Stephen Dick 1:0; 21. Rob Moore 2:0; 25. Simon Mantell 3:0; 49. Imran Muhammad 3:1; 57. Richard Alexander 4:1
Netherlands - Germany 3:3 (2:1)
5. Taeke Taekema 1:0; 15. Florian Keller 1:1; 32. Rogier Hofman 2:1; 56. Jan-Marco Montag 2:2; 58. Florian Keller 2:3; 64. Rob Reckers 3:3
Australia - Spain 2:3 (0:2)
10. Edi Tubau 0:1; 32. Santi Freixa 0:2; 41. Luke Doerner 1:2; 51. Santi Freixa 1:3; 68. Nathan Eglington 2:3
Malaysia - Korea 2:3 (2:1)
6. Jong Hyun Jang 0:1; 13. Selvaraju Sandrakasi 1:1; 25. Azlan Misron 2:1; 53. Dae Keun Oh 2:2; 69. Hyo Sik You 2:3
