DIARY: MAY 31
DIARY: MAY 31
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May 31 |
Day 12 and final day of women's competition. The sun was back for the last day of women's competition. For most of the teams, the classification games are just another game without more signification than the pride of finishing one rank higher and some of the matches yesterday were played without the passion we have witnessed in the last ten days. South Africa and USA played to a 0-0 tie and had to go to extra-time then to a penalty stroke competition to decide who would finish 7th. The game between Korea and New Zealand for the 5th place was more exciting. New Zealand went up 0-2, then Korea took the lead 3-2 and New Zealand tie the game again before Korea finally won the game with a penalty stroke! New Zealand can be pleased: they finish in the top six and are automatically qualified for the next World Cup after having to struggle through two rounds of qualification this time around! Similar see-saw for the Bronze Medal: Argentina took the lead and was still leading 0-1 at half-time; then Germany went up 2-1, Argentina came back 2-2 before a field goal by Inga Moller earned the Germans a spot on the lower step of the podium, their best finish in a top tournament since the 1992 Olympic Games. At the end of game, the players of both teams hugged each other extensively and took the traditional lap together around the field. The non-partisan crowd gave them a rousing standing ovation, appreciative not only of the great game of hockey but also of this refreshing show of sportsmanship.
Then, of course, came the Final between "Green Machine" Australia and "Orange Legion" Holland! The stores in Utrecht were totally sold out of all items even remotely orange, shirts, trousers, hats, wigs, scarves, bath robes, socks, tie, sunglasses, you name it, they were wearing it yesterday at Galgenwaard Stadium! The field hockey magazine (simply called "Hockey") was distributing Dutch flags to anybody wanting to grab one and, even though the Australians, reigning World and Olympic Champions were logically favorites, the crowd had the wild hope that the orange ladies would pull an upset.
The orange ladies kept this rousing pace up giving trouble to the Australians, who are certainly more used to dictating the pace of the game. The Dutch midfield managed a few skillful technical tricks that mystified their opponents, creating dangerous opportunities for their speedy forwards and drawing loud cheers from the crowd. At that point, Holland was certainly looking better than the mighty Australians… who suddenly didn't look so mighty and committed a few errors under pressure. But Holland were probably slightly overestimating their possibilities and, after, 20 minutes, had to tone down their blistering pace and, suddenly, the "Hockeyroos" were the "Hockeyroos" once again. Pressure changed sides and some of the young Dutch players who had toyed with their opponents earlier in the game started to look a bit overwhelmed. A quick combination left Alyson Annan alone at the top of the circle and she crafted a shot out of reach of the goalkeeper to tie the game at 1-1. One minute later, on a mad goalmouth scramble following a penalty-corner, Julie Towers tipped the ball over the line to make it 2-1, the score at half-time. The second half was not played at the same break-neck speed: the Green Machine was controlling most of the play and the Dutch didn't seem to be able to consistently create dangerous opportunities, except from the fast counter-attacks of Fleur van de Kieft. The Dutch defense was committing errors under pressure, including a collision between the goalkeeper and a defender which left an Australian forward alone in front of the empty net but she was probably too surprised by this good fortune and shot wide! On two occasions, the Dutch were also lucky to get away with "only" penalty-corners instead of penalty-strokes… The crowd never gave up though and kept pushing the orange team; the more pressure on their defense, the louder they shouted , drowning any attempts by the fairly large Aussie contingent to make their presence noticed. After the 3rd Australian goal, the Dutch ladies, with nothing to lose any
more, finally found their second wind and the last ten minutes of the game were
entirely theirs. Julie Deiters scored on a penalty-corner and, with still eight
minutes to go and the score at 3-2, everything seemed possible.
(use MS Sound Recorder to play the .wav file, 613K) The spectators were kept on the edge of their seats until the last second
(those not standing, that is!) but the Australians managed to keep their slim
one goal advantage and, logically, kept their World title.
When the Dutch team received their Silver Medals, the crowd launched into loud "HOL-LAND-HOL-LAND" cheers of support and appreciation which brought tears of emotion to the eyes of the Dutch women. Despite being far less experienced than the Australians, they have elevated their game very close to the high standard of the "Hockeyroos" and might very well be a team to watch even more closely in the near future!
In true field hockey spirit, all the players stayed for this wild closing party, just mingling with the crowd, friends and family, singing, dancing, drinking, having fun, just prolonging a little longer this wonderful Women's Field Hockey World Cup. I even had a chance to lift my glass with Britta Becker, Natasha Keller (yes, of the famed Keller hockey family!) and part of the German team. Not exactly an exclusive opportunity: they were standing near the tent entrance, happily knocking down the beer and lifting their glasses to anybody (that is everybody) walking by and cheering to the medals they were sporting proudly. The Daily "World Cup Bulletin" perfectly captured this spirit on its cover the next morning: a picture of the orange ladies waving emotionally to the huge crowd after the game, a picture of the players dancing wildly during the evening party and the title: Tomorrow (Monday is another holiday in Europe) is the final day for the
Men's World Cup. Canada plays Korea for the 7th place while Australia will
face Germany for the Bronze before the climax of these 13 days, the final
game between Holland and Spain.
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For more information:
fhc@fieldhockey.ca
F.H.C. Menu
'98 World Cup Menu
Canadian player 
2nd Dutch goal !
Later in the afternoon, a huge party was going on in the "Hockey Plaza"
and the place erupted in absolute madness when the Dutch players arrived, still
wearing their game jerseys and sporting their medals. They went on stage and
started to dance but the cheers of the crowd were covering the mega-decibels
of the live rock band!
CANADIAN CORNER !
