BEIJING: Holders Australia led field hockey’s top four nations into the Olympic men’s semifinals for the second time in a row after playing a 3-3 draw against Britain yesterday.
Eddie Ockenden scored the equalizer for the Kookaburras two minutes before the final whistle of a dramatic game in which the spirited British team kept the favorites on their toes. Bevan George and Jamie Dwyer were the other scorers for Australia, who needed a draw to qualify. Barry Middleton, Richard Mantell and Rob Moore got the goals for Britain.
In tomorrow’s semifinals, world No. 1 Australia clash with fourth-ranked Spain, while third-placed Netherlands take on No. 2 Germany.
The semifinal line-up is identical to the one at Athens four years ago where Australia won their maiden title by beating the Dutch in the final. Spain topped pool A with 12 points, one ahead of Germany.
The Netherlands finished first in pool B with 13 points, two more than Australia.
“We did not play well today, and there are a lot of areas we need to work on,” said Australian coach Barry Dancer.
“But we got the semifinal we wanted because Spain are more predictable. However, we can’t afford to be complacent.”
Versatile striker Santiago Freixa slammed two goals as Spain, regarded by many as the best team never to have won the Olympic gold, outplayed South Korea 2-1 in a match they only had to draw to qualify.
“We are getting there, but we will take it one match at a time,” said Spanish coach Maurits Hendriks.
Earlier, the Germans fought off New Zealand 3-1 to end the preliminary league with three wins and two draws. The Dutch, gold medalists in Atlanta and Sydney before taking silver in Athens, overcame a sluggish start to beat rejuvenated Pakistan 4-2 in their last match.
Three-time champions Pakistan played their best hockey of the competition in the first half, but could not hold on to a 1-0 lead through Muhammad Imran’s penalty corner.
The Dutch surged ahead in the second session with three goals in 17 minutes, two of them through their penalty corner ace Taeke Taekema.
Jeroen Hertzberger increased the tally one minute before the final whistle to hand Pakistan their third defeat in five matches. Taekema blamed the first half blues on the early 8:30 a.m. start, a complaint also made by the Spanish coach last week.
Germany, meanwhile, took a 2-0 lead by the ninth minute against New Zealand through goals by Timo Wess and Matthias Witthaus.
Penalty corner specialist Hayden Shaw pulled one back for the Kiwis in the 46th before Florian Keller sealed Germany’s domination with his team’s third goal in the 55th.
“We had a tough pool, but we did not lose any matches and that is a very good sign,” said German coach Markus Weise. “We are not unbeatable, but we have done our homework well.”
