Hockey World League Final: Match Day 1 Review

The much awaited Hockey World League Final is under way as all the matches on Day 1 were filled with full of action as Argentina, Australia, Germany and England emerged victorious. The major upset of the day came when Argentina defeated Netherlands by a comfortable margin and India failed to live up to the standards in their first match of World League Final.

Pool A Matches
India 0-2 England

The Hosts India were off to a poor start in the World League Final as England who are ranked 4th in the world won the match by 2-0 margin. India started on a positive not but faded away as time progressed. Both England and India had their share of penalty corners but they failed to convert it until Adam Dixon netted for England in 28th minute. India were looking out of elements after the goal and made desperate moves before the Half time whistle was hooted.

In the second half, India lost possession often and failed to convert the penalty corner chances while England built on their lead through a Penalty corner rebound by Dixon. Indian midfielders pulled off some good passes in the middle but the player on the receiving end was either out of position to keep the ball or made a mess with a shot off target.

India finally broke shackles with less than ten minutes on the clock with a penalty corner conversion from Rupinder Pal Singh but the goal was cancelled after England’s appeal complaining the ball never left the circle. India made a lot of mistakes in their opening game and must improve in the upcoming games.

Germany 6-1  New Zealand

As Alex Shah summed up, Germany took their chances to come out victorious while New Zealand did not. Christopher Wesely scored the first goal for Germany in less than 20 seconds and it was equalized by Kane Russel’s penalty corner conversion in 5th minute. The Black Sticks were trying to play open hockey through out the match and never succeeded as Germany scored goals at regular intervals to win the game with a goal difference.

#	Team	Played	Wins	Draws	Losses	GD	Points
1	England	2	2	0	-	3	5
2	Germany	2	1	0	0	4	3
3	New Zealand	2	1	0	1	-3	3
4	India	2	0	0	1	-4	0

 

Pool B Matches
Australia 3-2 Belgium 

Australia got the revenge for their loss against Belgium at Rotterdam as they scored in the final minute to edge past Belgium to win the first match of Men’s Hockey World League Final. It took 33 minutes to witness the first goal of the tournament as Kieran Govers netted the first penalty corner for Australia. Belgium equalized with a goal from  Tom Boon and the first half ended with 1-1.

Kieran Govers netted for the second time in the 48th minute in a counter attack and Belgium raised the speed of the game. The equalizer came from the stick of Thomas Briels (53′) and the red lions had their chance to pass ahead as they earned penalty corners in quick succession. But, they missed while Australia went into the lead through Kookaburra Whetton’s goal two minutes before the final hooter.

Argentina 5-2  Netherlands

Argentina finished as runners-up in the World League Semifinals in Johor Bahru and they have continued their good form stepping into the World League Final. Argentina defeated Netherlands in a nerve wrecking match that witnessed three goals being scored in the first ten minutes of play with Argentina having the upper hand. Seve Van Ass did score in the 50th minute to give a ray of hope but Argentina wrapped up the match through goals from Pedro Ibarra, Guido Barrides.

#	Team	Played	Wins	Draws	Losses	GD	Points
1	Argentina	2	2	0	0	4	6
2	Australia	2	1	0	-	0	3
3	Netherlands	2	1	0	1	-2	3
4	Belgium	2	0	0	1	-2	0

India will take on New Zealand in tomorrow’s match at 08:00PM IST while other teams are in action. Have a look at the Complete Schedule for the day.