BEIJING: Taeke Taekema slammed a last-second penalty corner as the Netherlands held reigning champions Australia to a crucial 2-2 draw in the Olympic men’s field hockey yesterday.

In a match-up between the Athens Games finalists, the Kookaburras led 2-1 till the last 25 seconds through goals by Eddie Ockenden and Luke Doerner, before Taekema’s second goal tied the game.

The draw virtually assured both teams a place in the semifinals from pool B, with nearest challengers Britain three points adrift ahead of the last round of league matches tomorrow.

Former champions Pakistan, who were lying in fourth place, were knocked out of contention.

“We are pretty much in the semifinals, but we do not want to lose any points to Britain in our last match,” said Australian goal-scorer Ockenden.

“We just do not want to take any backward steps now.”

Meanwhile, World Cup champions Germany resurrected their semifinal hopes with a 1-0 win over pool A leaders Spain, Moritz Fuerste scoring the winner a minute before halftime.

In a race wide open, Germany trail by just one point behind Spain’s tally of nine, while New Zealand and South Korea are in third place with seven points each.

The Germans must defeat the Kiwis on Tuesday to advance to the semifinals, while Spain also need a win against the Koreans.

“It’s not over by any means,” said German coach Markus Weise.

“No one in my team is taking anything for granted.” New Zealand were denied a valuable point when they were locked in a 2-2 draw with hosts China.

The Kiwis, who were expected to roll over the winless Chinese, found themselves two goals down by the 17th minute before Simon Child and Shea McAleese restored parity.

A win over Germany on Tuesday could see New Zealand through to the semifinals.

The Koreans, the current Asian Games champions, came from behind to defeat Belgium 3-1 earlier yesterday for their second win in the competition.

The Koreans withstood a first half goal from Jerome Dekeyser as You Hyo-Sik pumped in two goals and Jang Jong-Hyun struck one penalty corner in the second session.

Pakistan scored a 3-1 win over South Africa, their second victory from four matches, but it came too late to keep them in the loop for the semifinals.

Muhammad Javed and Shakeel Abbasi scored in each half before Saqlain Muhammad converted a penalty stroke 10 minutes from the end.

Austin Smith scored the lone goal for South Africa.

Meanwhile, Britain forced a 1-1 draw on Canada as Matt Daly equalized Ken Pereira’s 47th-minute opener three minutes before the final whistle.