LAHORE, 9 December 2004 — Favorites Holland swaggered into the Champions Trophy final leaving Pakistan and Spain to battle it out for the other place in the ultimate showdown of the tournament here yesterday.
The Dutch rode on a brilliant hat trick by Karel Klaver for a 4-2 victory over Spain while Pakistan gave their gold medal campaign a lifeline by winning a thriller against traditional rivals India in an electrifying atmosphere at the National Hockey Stadium.
Short corner specialist Sohail Abbas earned and converted a penalty stroke in the dying moments to give his side a 2-1 victory in front of over 40,000 boisterous crowd.
The result literally turned Pakistan’s last league match against Spain into a semifinal after defending champions Holland secured their place in Sunday’s final.
Pakistan were desperate to win this match after losing 1-4 to Holland but saw their task being made difficult by their erratic attack, a resolute Indian defense and most noticeably the heroics of Indian goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza.
Winger Rehan Butt, out of form since the start of the tournament, could have given Pakistan an early lead had his reverse shot reached the target. Pakistan earned the first of their five short corners in the 19th minute but failed to take the advantage. Another short corner came just a minute later and this time Adrian dashed to block Sohail’s flick.
Pakistan finally got what they wanted when recalled midfielder Mohammad Saqlain scored a superb goal on a free hit from Dilawar Hussain three minutes from half-time.
Rookie short corner striker Sandeep Singh clinched equalizer in the 57th minute with a low push off his team’s first short corner.
A frenzied Pakistani team increased their efforts, earning three more short corners in a row. The first two failed to get the desired result but the last one executed by Sohail earned them a penalty stroke when the ball caught Viren Rasquinha’s foot in front of the goal. Sohail scored the decisive goal with a powerful, low push on the goaltender’s left.
India responded strongly and forced a short corner but this time Sandeep was stopped by goalkeeper Salman Akber two minutes before the hooter. The Indians appealed for a penalty stroke telling Australian umpire Tim Pullman that the ball had hit the foot of defender Zeeshan Ashraf in front of the goal. Pullman was not convinced.
Spain almost forced a much-needed draw against Holland, earlier in the day.
The Dutch weathered a relentless Spanish storm in the last quarter of the crucial match thanks to some splendid goalkeeping by Guus Vogels, later voted as the man-of-the-match.
Their fourth consecutive victory took Holland to just one step away from their third Champions Trophy crown in a row.
Holland drew first blood when Klaver took them ahead in the 15th minute. Rob Reckers then converted a penalty stroke just three minutes later to make it 2-0.
Spain pressed hard to cut down the lead and finally succeeded at the stroke of halftime through Santiago Frexa.
The Dutch were once again in a commanding position after Klaver put them 3-1 ahead ten minutes into the second session. Spain started to breathe more fire in the last quarter and were rewarded with a short corner goal by Pau Quemada in the 57th minute. The Dutch struggled for possession as Spain dominated the proceedings with speed and vigor. Holland, with Guus in top form, saved at least half a dozen attacks and finally got their fourth goal against the run of play when Klaver produced a stunning strike from the top of the circle just a minute from the final whistle.
Germany and New Zealand opened their accounts in the tournament with a 1-1 draw in a match with little significance.
New Zealand led 1-0 till the 43rd minute with the help of a 25th minute short corner strike from Phillip Burrows. The young Germans leveled scores in the 43rd minute Jan-Marco Montag in the 43rd minute. Both teams had lost all their previous matches in the competition and are out of contention for a medal.
The teams will have rest day today before playing the final league round tomorrow.
