DIARY: MAY 30
DIARY: MAY 30
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May 30 |
Day 11 of competition Late in the spring night, the Dutch people who seem to like hockey so much (good hockey that is) were celebrating once again: after the women's team the day before (victory over Germany 6-1), their men's team similarly annihilated Australia 6-2! The rest of the world, in the Babel Tower Hockey Village around Galgenwaard Stadium, is just celebrating the stunning display of offensive hockey they have just witnessed and the breweries around Utrecht are working overtime in prevision of the final weekend of this Field Hockey World Cup. Having the men's and women's competitions together has certainly proved a success (as long as you can handle the gigantic organization as efficiently as it is done here) and the F.I.H. (Fédération Internationale de Hockey) has already announced that it will endeavor to maintain this format, starting with the 1999 Champions Trophy (an invitational elite competition for the top six teams in the World) in Brisbane, Australia. The day started with a (friendly!) controversy when the Press played the traditional field hockey game against the Organizing Committee. The Press was helped by the North American contingent of Lise Chow (ex-team USA, now working for USA Today), Sandeep Chopra (of Gloucester, Ontario, reporting here for his own web site Canadian Field Hockey Net News) and Bubli Chohan (until recently in the Canadian Team and who was given a temporary press card!). According to the Press Team, they "totally outclassed the Organization" and published a glowing report in the Daily World Cup Bulletin to support this view. The Organization, however, was quick to publish an official announcement basically declaring the opposite! On a (slightly) more serious note, the day was reserved for the cross-over games in the men's competition. In the important 5-8 play-off Pakistan (with a win 3-1 over a Korean team which never seemed really into the game) and England (with a win 2-1 over Canada) earned an automatic qualification for the next World Cup. Canada was beaten by two goals from penalty-corner specialist Calum Giles, the man who spends 69 minutes on the bench (re-arranging his ponytail) just waiting for the opportunity to unleash his lethal flick on the penalty corner set play… Calum Giles is enjoying his last days in the spotlights: F.I.H. announced a change in the rules to forbid substitution of players once a penalty corner is called, therefore putting an end to the era of set play specialists.
Maybe because of the importance of the game, may be because of the earlier start, the two teams were cautious and the game couldn't find a rhythm. Both defenses were tight, forcing an unusual number of errors from the opposition. Danger came mostly from counter-attacks but both goalkeepers (Mike Mahood for Canada) played well and kept the score tied at 0-0.
In the 43rd minute, after a few unsuccessful attempts well countered by the Canadian defense, Calum Giles hit home his first penalty corner of the game. In what seems to become a pattern, Canada reacted immediately and got a penalty corner of their own: Peter Milkovich saw his flick stopped by the English goalkeeper but Andrew Griffiths jumped on the rebound to make it 1-1. The "Woo Hoo" song (the jingle chosen by the Canadian team to be played when they score a goal) was sweet music to the ears of the Canadian fans: with 25 minutes to go, everything was still possible. After the game, coach Shiaz Virjee credited the positive reaction of his team after a goal to the work of sport psychologist Saul Miller. The game suddenly picked-up speed, Canada producing most of the exciting plays and opportunities. England seemed tangled in their far too classic and not terribly imaginative style of play, which can be summarized in "Try to get a penalty-corner and call Calum in"…
Chris Gifford, Rob Short and Rick Roberts created dangerous opportunities but the score was still 1-1 and, with 10 minutes to go, you could feel the two teams becoming suddenly more conscious of avoiding "the" mistake which could cost the game. On a mild defensive error, England was awarded yet another penalty corner and Calum Giles was all too happy to oblige: 2nd goal in 5 attempts. 2-1 and only two minutes to go… Canada let the cavalry loose but it was too late to catch up this time.
Canada will now play on Monday morning for the 7th or 8th place against Korea. Canada has never finished better than 10th at a World Cup and will therefore achieve their best ever finish. But Coach Shiaz Virjee (who was honored before the game for his 100th game on the Canadian bench) said at the post game Press Conference that they were indeed hoping to finish in the top six. He also added that he was proud of the way his team reacted to the "unavailability" of Alan Brahmst. The English coach commented however that, even though Bindi Kullar was very steady defensively, it was a relief for his team not to have to worry about the ever so dangerous counter-attack opportunities often created by Alan.
Baeden Choppy is the same type of player as German Oliver Domke: young (22), not athletically impressive (relatively speaking!), he has impeccable technical skills and can fly away from any fast defender and create a dangerous situation in front of the opposition's goal. It didn't take long for Holland to take the lead (6th minute) but it didn't take long either for Australia to level the score (1-1, 13th minute). Despite the very offensive and entertaining style of the two teams, the score was still tied at half time. Then Holland unleashed the artillery and scored twice on penalty-corners by Bram Lomans. Australia came back briefly at 3-2 (56th minute) but couldn't prevent Holland from scoring 3 more goals! The fourth goal was still discussed in awe late at night and in fifty years you'll probably still find people explaining how they once witnessed a Dutch defender under pressure managed a fifty (50!) meter scoop which arrived right on the stick of his right winger who, at full speed, dragged the last Australian defender aside before addressing a sharp pass to his center forward (Remco van WIJK) at the top of the circle; next thing we knew, the ball was in the top left corner and the crowd in an absolute frenzy. The Australian team never recovered from this play and Holland, in 7th heaven at the time, scored another goal less than a minute later! The other semi-final between Germany and Spain started in a more restrained manner and even seemed "ordinary" in the first half in comparison to what we had just witnessed. In a style rather similar to the Argentinean ladies (could there now be a "latin" style in field hockey?), the Spaniards were just patiently waiting for the right moment to speed up and they too scored two goals in less than one minute (Javier Arnau and Juan Escarre) to seal the fate of the Germans. The scene is now set for the big showdown between Holland and Spain on Monday (another holiday in Europe); it is a rematch of the final of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta when Holland narrowly won (3-1). The organizers of this double World Cup of Field Hockey couldn't dream of
a better apotheosis, with the two Dutch teams in their respective finals!
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More reports can be found on
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For more information:
fhc@fieldhockey.ca
F.H.C. Menu
'98 World Cup Menu
Later in the day, Galgenwaard Stadium was packed again (officially 15,000
spectators but probably more, considering all the volunteers, concession workers,
etc… who had sneaked in and were sitting on the stairs) to watch the Dutch
Armada take on Australia. Monster game! Both teams are very
athletic, very fast, very skilled, very
organized and very offensive minded! Both teams have strikers
who can shoot absolute crackers from any position: Australian Jay Stacy was
leading the goal scoring contest at the end of pool play with 11 goals and his
teammate Baeden Choppy, although less prolific, is a constant menace.
CANADIAN CORNER !
