MADRID, 4 March 2004 — Spain left it till late, but Holland and Japan found their scoring touch in full measure with displays that ensured a tight Pool A in the Olympic Hockey Qualifiers here at the Club de Campo yesterday. The Netherlands beat Great Britain 3-0 and Japan rallied to hold Poland 4-4.
Xavier Ribas converted a last-minute penalty corner to give hosts Spain a narrow 2-1 win over South Africa. This win was not a surprise by itself, but the manner in which it was achieved — especially after Spain had rocked Japan 6-1 while South Africans were being thumped 1-5 by Olympic Holland on the same day — cast doubts about Spain’s attacking capabilities against a packed defense.
South Africa took an early lead when Steve Evans scored off a sixth minute field attempt. Spain kept pressing for the equalizer but had to wait till the 30th minute, Santiago Friexa converting a penalty corner. Then came the 70th minute winner that gave Spain their second straight win in the competition.
Earlier, Japan bounced back from the morale-shattering defeat at the hands of Spain to hold Poland to a thrilling draw. The Japanese struck twice in the last ten minutes including one coming just seconds before the hooter to register a draw that gave them their first point in the competition.
Skipper Kenichi Katayama scored two goals for Japan. Poland, riding high after a stunning 3-2 victory over former Olympic champions Great Britain, looked like gaining yet another win when they went ahead 2-0 by ten minutes of the enthralling encounter. Artur Mikula gave Poland their first goal and Piotr Mikula doubled it. But Japan fought their way back into the match with goals from Katayama and Takahiko Yamabori.
Zbigniew Juszczak converted a penalty stroke two minutes from halftime to take Poland ahead 3-2. And Mikula scored his second goal of the match in the 51st minute to make it 4-2 for Poland. But the Asian minnows came back again with Naohiko Tabita scoring off a penalty corner before Katayama struck in the dying moments for a sensational draw.
The Netherlands cruised to victory over winless Great Britain. Taeke Taekema converted Netherlands first penalty corner and Teun de Nooijer put Netherlands 2-0 ahead at the break.
Sander van der Weide finished a great move along the right by Karel Klaver to De Nooijer in the circle who passed on to van der Weide swooping in from the top of the left of the circle to drive into goal.
The Pool B too will be a tight race after Belgium came into the reckoning with a sterling display against India. They now take on Pakistan, who will be wary of Belgium’s tight defense and improved attack in today’s encounter.
“It is certainly an important game for us and we will be taking it very seriously,” said Pakistan’s Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans.
While Pakistan confidence rocketed with a winning start, India, after their draw, are under lot of pressure. India need a victory against Asian rivals Malaysia today to keep alive their hopes.
India have lost two crucial points by failing against Belgium and know they cannot afford a similar result against Malaysia this evening. “The draw against Belgium was a surprise but we are confident that our team will bounce back in the coming matches,” said Indian coach Rajinder Singh.
The good news for both the Asian sides and Pakistan is that the weather is rapidly improving and the forecast is that of sunney weather. Asian teams have found it difficult to adapt to sub zero temperatures here.
Pakistan’s confidence is high after an impressive 4-2 victory over Canada but Oltmans has warned against complacency.
Assistant coach Tahir Zaman said beating Belgium would not be easy.
“We will have to come out with a different strategy to tackle the Belgians,” said Tahir, a former Pakistan skipper who has extensively played club hockey in several European countries.
Tahir did not detail the strategy the team has devised for the game against Belgium, though he did say that it will be aimed at tearing the rock solid Belgian defense apart with a more attacking approach.
