LAHORE, 11 December 2004 — Spain blanked Pakistan 3-0 to enter the Champions Trophy final against Holland and leave the hosts with yet another bronze medal clash against India here at the National Stadium yesterday.
Juan Escarre’s men, who whipped Pakistan 4-2 in the Olympic qualifiers in Madrid and 4-0 at the Athens Olympic Games, braved a Pakistani storm early in the first half before coming out with a three-goal blitz in the final session.
With their maiden win over the greenshirts on Pakistani soil, Spain secured their first final against Holland in a major tournament.
Alex Fabregas scored a penalty stroke, David Alegre off a short corner and Santiago Freixa celebrated his world young player of the year award with a stunning field goal in the final moments of the match to give Spain a convincing victory.
India survived some anxious moments against New Zealand before clinging to a 1-1 draw that gave them a shot at the bronze medal.
It will be the third time in a row that the Asian rivals will clash for the bronze. Pakistan beat the Indians on the previous two occasions in 2002 in Cologne (Germany) and in Amstelveen (Holland) in 2003.
Germany created some drama in the last match of the day when they shocked previously unbeaten Holland 4-3. However, their first win in the tournament failed to get the Germans a place in the play-off for the third position which went to India on the basis of a better goal difference. Germany needed to beat Holland by more than three goals to be able to play for the bronze.
Pakistan created numerous opportunities only to waste them as Spain once again exhibited their killer instinct to shatter the hosts’ dream of playing in the Champions Trophy final for the first time in six years.
Spain restricted Pakistan to just one short corner to effectively contain their rivals’ most potent weapon Sohail Abbas. The short corner specialist got his only chance just a couple of minutes from halftime but was off target.
Strikers Shakil Abbasi, Kashif Jawwad and Shabbir Hussain squandered a series of chances in the initial stages of the match.
Spain struggled in the beginning but fought their way back in by forcing a short corner in the 18th minute but a shot by Freixa was saved by goalie Salman Akber.
Pakistan got their only short corner in the 33rd minute but Sohail’s powerful flick went too wide. The first session ended without a goal for either side.
Spain were awarded a penalty stroke in the 47th minute through an attack off a short corner and Fabregas made no mistake to make it 1-0.
Pakistan got another blow when their temperamental midfielder Mohammad Saqlain was sent off for a foul on Victor Sojo in the very next minute.
Down to 10 men, Pakistan failed to stop Spain from dominating them and getting two penalty corners in quick succession. Alegre converted one of them to give Spain a 2-0 advantage.
Friexa completed the rout with a reverse shot one minute from the final whistle.
India barely managed to survive a real Kiwi threat before confirming their place in Sunday’s game for the third place.
The Indians needed a draw to finish among the top four teams in this six-nation contest but had to work hard for it.
