Wednesday
May 20 |
Field hockey is played by men and women in 132 countries worldwide,
second only in popularity to soccer as a team sport throughout the world.
The interest for the top competitions throughout the world is phenomenal:
at the 1996 Olympics, field hockey was the 7th most watched event by
TV viewers worldwide. Television audiences for the 1998 World Cup are expected
to surpass 80 million for the 2 week event.
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For the first time in the history of field hockey, the Men's World Cup and
the Women's World Cup are being held together in Utrecht, Holland!
Competition opened today at the World Cup of field hockey in Utrecht, Holland,
with the first women's games. Ideal playing conditions with bright sunshine
but a cool breeze.
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Defending champion Australia looked as strong as ever and posted a
convincing 5-0 victory against Scotland.
- England only scored once against an Indian team constantly improving.
- The first big surprise came from Argentina. The South Americans were a
big disappointment in Atlanta after winning the Silver Medal at the 1994
World Cup in Dublin. They seem to have recovered their vision and logically
won against an uninspired Korean team (silver medallist in Atlanta).
- South Africa labored to beat China (2-1) and only owed their
salvation to two penalty-corner goals from their scoring machine Pietie COETZEE,
very discrete on the field outside of the set plays.
- At the end of the afternoon, the crowd came en masse to support the Dutch
team against New Zealand. The "Holland! Holland!" rolling down from the stands
(around 10,000 spectators) seemed to impress the women in orange more than
stimulate them. New Zealand had 5 good scoring opportunities in the first five
minutes before scoring on a penalty corner, much to the delight of the strong
contingent of "kiwi" supporters! The score was still, and very logically, 0-1
for New Zealand at half-time. The Dutch team managed to somewhat put things
together and scored twice but the kiwis were not impressed and created more
opportunities in the dying minutes of the game even hitting the post after a
brilliant move with less than one minute to go!
- Later on Wednesday, Germany plays against USA.
The men's matches start tomorrow, with a much-awaited
, which has
been sold out for more than six months. A tough start for the Canadian team
but they look confident and as prepared as they can be.
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Holland is under pressure
against New Zealand...
...the crowd was not expecting that
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Advertising billboard
downtown Utrecht |
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DIARY: MAY 20
For more information:
fhc@fieldhockey.ca
F.H.C. Menu
'98 World Cup Menu
