Olympic::Men's Hockey Day 4 Review

Spain allows Germany back into the hunt for a semifinal spot

World champions Germany beat Spain 1-0 and renewed their chances of reaching the semifinals of the Men's Hockey competition at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium on Sunday, August 17. The match between Pool B leaders, Australia and the Netherlands, ended in a 2-2 draw that all but confirmed their progress to the semifinals.

Pool A

Germany defeated Spain 1-0 and picked up valuable points to take their tally to eight. Moritz Fuerste of Germany scored an opportunistic goal in the 34th minute for the only goal of the match. The result will require Spain (nine points) to beat the Republic of Korea (seven points) and Germany (eight points) to defeat New Zealand (seven points) in their concluding preliminary fixtures on Tuesday, August 19, to qualify for the semifinals.

In overcoming Belgium 3-1, the Republic of Korea (ROK) finally showed the speed and dynamism that won them the silver medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The ROK ended the first half trailing by a goal that Jerome Dekeyser from Belgium scored in the 20th minute.

In the second half, the ROK hit back with You Hyo-sik scoring twice and Jang Jong-hyun converting a penalty corner. The Belgians disputed You's equalizer, which was upheld after a video referral. The ROK moved to seven points from their second win and Belgium remained on one point after four matches.

New Zealand tied with China 2-2. China again wasted a strong start but picked up their first point in the competition. Two penalty corner conversions by Song Yi gave China a 2-0 lead by the 17th minute but lacked the experience to consolidate. New Zealand made the best of the situation to score from Simon Child and Shea McAleese, coming away with a draw that took their tally to seven points. That gives them a fair shot at the semifinals.

Pool B

The world's two top teams, Australia and the Netherlands, appeared content to play out a 2-2 draw that more or less guaranteed both a semifinal spot. The Aussies are strongly placed on goal difference (+17) which should be sufficient even if they lose their concluding preliminary match against Great Britain, who have a 7-4 tally. Taeke Taekema of Netherlands converted two penalty corners for the Dutch while Eddie Ockenden and Luke Doerner of Australia led the Australian reply.

Canada wasted an opportunity to record their first win after leading 1-0 until the 67th minute on a Ken Pereira goal. Great Britain barely survived the Canadian onslaught and the late goal by Matt Daly of Great Britain fetched them one point. The draw has left Great Britain (seven points) the virtually impossible task of beating Australia in their concluding preliminary round fixture on Tuesday, August 19, by a 15-goal margin to progress to the semifinals.

Pakistan beat South Africa 3-1. Pakistan survived a rough and tumble game against South Africa for their second win in four matches with goals by Muhammad Javed, Shakeel Abbasi and Muhammad Saqlain of Pakistan. The victory, however, did nothing to enhance Pakistan's chances of qualifying for the medal rounds as they have only six points.

South Africa's only consolation was their first goal of the competition, when Austin Smith converted a penalty corner in the 31st minute to level the scores.