KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, 16 January 2004 — A late goal from Michael Boyce helped Australia hold Pakistan to a 2-2 draw yesterday in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament.
The result means Australia needs a victory today against Germany to qualify for Sunday’s finals. Germany requires a draw to reach the finals, where it would face Pakistan, which has already qualified.
The other four teams in the tournament — India, Malaysia, South Korea and Spain — are no longer in contention for a berth in the finals.
Australia came out attacking early against Pakistan, when Liam De Young opened scoring in the 13th minute.
Pakistan struggled to equalize, but their best efforts came only after the halftime mark, culminating in goals from Sohail Abbas in the 37th minute and Saleem Khalid in the 51st minute.
Boyce rescued Australia from defeat, scoring his first goal of the tournament in the 56th minute.
Seven of the world’s top 10 teams are taking part in the 10-day tournament in Kuala Lumpur. But many are fielding untested combinations and new players as part of fine-tuning for Olympic qualifiers in March.
