December 12 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: England and Australia became the first teams to reach the final four of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 thanks to victories in their respective quarter-final matches on Wednesday 12th December. England claimed a stunning 3-2 triumph over Olympic champions Argentina to book their ticket to the semi-finals, with Harry Martin’s fourth quarter strike proving decisive to set up a last four meeting with either Germany or Belgium, two teams that meet in the quarter-finals on Thursday 13th December. Reigning world champions Australia proved too strong for 20thranked France, powering to a 3-0 win to maintain their own ambitions to claim a third successive title. The Kookaburras’ semi-final opponents will be either host nation India or European champions the Netherlands, two sides that also go head-to-head tomorrow. The opening stages of the quarter-final meeting between Pool A winners Argentina (FIH Hero World Ranking: 2) and England (WR:7), winners against New Zealand in the cross-over play-offs, was a cagey affair, although England certainly had the better of the first quarter. Danny Kerry’s team saw a penalty corner effort blocked by the Argentina defence in what was England’s best chance of the period, before Los Leones – who defeated England in the bronze medal match at the 2014 World Cup in The Hague – hit the European nation with a sucker-punch at the start of the second quarter. The goal came through a very familiar source, Gonzalo Peillat finding the net with low and powerful penalty corner effort that England goalkeeper George Pinner half-blocked, but not enough to keep it out. England dragged themselves level before half time when 34-year-old Barry Middleton rolled back the years with a stunning strike into the bottom corner, smashing home after a surging run into the Argentina circle from Odisha Player of the Match Liam Ansell. Things went from good to great for England at the end of the third quarter when Middleton sent an aerial pass deep into Argentine territory, with Will Calnan capitalising on a defensive error to drill a terrific effort past the left foot of Juan Vivaldi, putting his side in command ahead of a thrilling final fifteen minutes of play. A video referral by umpire Javed Shaikh saw a penalty stroke initially awarded to Argentina downgraded to a penalty corner. However, it made little difference, as Peillat showed once again why he is rated as the world’s finest drag-flicker by scoring his sixth goal of the tournament to tie the match at 2-2 with 12 minutes remaining. Incredibly, England regained the lead just a minute later, with Harry Martin forcing home after Argentina’s usually reliable defence failed to clear their lines. Argentina almost conceded a fourth goal when Ansell rattled the left post after a mazy run from deep in his own half, while Pinner was brought into action in the dying seconds to make a crucial block and confirm England’s place in the semi-finals for the third Men’s World Cup in succession. “I think it was a good game”, said England’s Michael Hoare, who tasted victory against the Olympic champions on the occasion of his 100thinternational match. “Scoring with one second left in the end of the third quarter… we’ve had that against us in the last World Cup, it’s nice to get one in this one. I felt the boys dug in really deep at the end and we played really well. We deserve to win. We got to the semi-finals last time. I think this time we’re in a better position than last time. Our team is a bit stronger. Defensively we’ve been really good in the last two or three games. If we can do that again in the semis, I think we’ve got a great chance to get to the final.” Despite being the top ranked team in the world and entering their quarter-final meeting against France (WR:20) on the back of a devastating 11-0 Pool B victory over China, Australia (WR:1) had no intention of taking their opponent from Europe lightly. It was hardly surprising, given the stunning victory Les Bleus claimed over Argentina in their final pool match. The Kookaburras were dominant throughout the first period, scoring the opening goal just four minutes in when Jeremy Hayward sent a low penalty corner drag-flick into the net, either side of both Trent Mitton and Jake Whetton hitting the frame of the France goal.  A second Australian goal arrived four minutes into the second quarter, with Blake Govers bagging a penalty corner to move level with Gonzalo Peillat on six goals in the top scorer’s chart. France had a chance to pull a goal back when Timothée Clement created a good opportunity for Aristide Coisne, who managed to beat Australia goalkeeper Tyler Lovell only for Jeremy Hayward to clear the ball off the goal-line. Australia’s third and final goal arrived in the third quarter, again from a penalty corner situation. This time it was team captain and Odisha Player of the Match Aran Zalewski who found the net, flicking into an unguarded goal after two slick passes eliminated the majority of the France defence. It was the icing on the cake for the title holders, who enter the semi-finals with four wins from four matches and having conceded only once in 240 minutes of World Cup hockey in Bhubaneswar. “It was a really good game”, said Australia’s Tim Brand after the match. “We held the ball and defended really well. I don’t think we allowed France much possession. They did not have many chances. Full credit to them, they played a good game but in the end we played really well tonight. Now we’re going to go home for a long shower, just rest a bit and then we’ll do our homework. We don’t know whom we’re playing yet but whoever we play, we’ll do a bit of research. We’re looking forward to that, hoping to win the next game to get ourselves to the final.” While Australia

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December 11 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: Belgium and the Netherlands both claimed cross-over play-off victories at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, securing their respective places in the upcoming quarter-finals of the competition on another high-quality day of action at the Kalinga Stadium. Belgium’s 5-0 victory over four-time world champions Pakistan sets up a mouth-watering all-European quarter-final against Pool D winners Germany, a match that will take place on Thursday 13thDecember. On the same day, home favourites India have a quarter-final meeting against the Netherlands, who defeated Canada 5-0 today. The World Cup quarter-finals begin on Wednesday 12thDecember with Argentina facing England and top-ranked Australia going head-to-head against France, the lowest ranked of the 16 competing nations here in Bhubaneswar. In the day’s opening cross-over match, Belgium (FIH Hero World Ranking: 3) had the better of the first period against Pakistan (WR:13), with the Olympic silver medallists from Rio 2016 taking a 2-0 lead against the giants of Asian hockey. Alexander Hendrickx opened the scoring with a low penalty corner before Red Lions captain Thomas Briels completed the simplest of finishes after a wonderful run along the backline from Nicolas de Kerpel. Pakistan improved greatly in the second quarter and could well have reduced the deficit through Ali Shan and Muhammad Irfan Jr, who both missed the target when they had a clear sight of goal. Those missed opportunities were punished just before half time when Cedric Charlier’s speculative cross-shot took a wicked deflection off the stick of Pakistan captain Ammad Butt and flew into the goal to give Belgium a 3-0 lead at half time. The team coached by Shane McLeod added a fourth goal to their collection when Sebastien Dockier finished off a flowing team move to leave Pakistan with a mountain to climb in the final 25 minutes. As they have done throughout the event in Bhubaneswar, the Green Shirts gave it everything but could not get the goal their endeavour deserved, with Tom Boon completing a 5-0 score-line from the penalty spot in the fourth quarter. It was a special day for Belgium duo Florent van Aubel and Simon Gougnard, with the former making his 200thinternational appearance for his country and the latter being named Odisha Player of the Match for his creativity in midfield.  Speaking after the game, Van Aubel said: “I think we played our best game in the tournament so far. Winning 5-0 and getting into the quarter-finals, I think it’s really good. The whole team worked really hard to get there, so it’s really positive. We knew we were going to face Germany or the Netherlands in the next round. It’s Germany. We have to get ready for them. They’re playing really well at the moment, so I expect a tough game.” With a quarter-final meeting against host nation India on the line, the cross-over match between the Netherlands (WR:4) and Canada produced a fascinating opening fifteen minutes as the Pan-American team frustrated the European champions. Canada goalkeeper David Carter – later named Odisha Player of the Match – bravely charged down a shot from Bob de Voogd that crashed against the shot-stopper’s helmet, while Mink van der Weerden wasted a penalty corner effort towards the end of the period. The breakthrough arrived in the opening moments of the second period when defender Lars Balk found himself at the other end of the field to smash a blistering first-time effort under the cross-bar, producing the sort of finish that most strikers would be proud of. Carter denied the Dutch a second when he saved a penalty stroke from Jeroen Hertzberger, although the Netherlands did take a 2-0 lead into half-time when Robbert Kemperman guided home a cross-shot from Thijs van Dam. The Netherlands put some clear water between themselves and the Canadians with a solid display in the third quarter, netting twice to take the score to 4-0. Van Dam scored the third while Kemperman was the creator of the Netherlands’ fourth goal, stealing possession and dancing through the Canadian defence before eliminating goalkeeper Carter with a perfect pass to Thierry Brinkman, who walked the ball over the line to effectively end the contest with quarter to spare. The scoring was completed in the fourth quarter by Thijs van Dam, starting and finishing a rapid counter-attack to give the Netherlands a 5-0 victory over Canada to confirm a quarter-final meeting against India on Thursday. Speaking after the match, Netherlands captain Billy Bakker said:“We wanted to play better against Canada than we played against Pakistan. We just looked at the statistics and we had about 30 circle penetrations and we made five goals, so it could be more but we should be proud of this result. We’re very happy and we’re confident for playing the quarter-final against India. It’s lovely. My team gets a lot of energy in front of this big crowd and this enormous stadium so it’s only an advantage for us.” The first two matches of the Odisha Hockey Men’sWorld Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 quarter-finals will take place on Wednesday 12thDecember. Reigning Olympic champions Argentina (WR:2) face England (WR:7), cross-over winners against New Zealand, at 1645 IST (UTC+5:30) before reigning world champions Australia (WR:1) play France (WR:20) – who defeated China in the cross-overs – at 1900. Assessing his team’s performances so far whilst also looking towards the meeting against Olympic title holders Argentina, England’s Adam Dixon said: “We’ve grown into the tournament and improved game by game. Our young players have really stepped up and made themselves counted for. Argentina are a strong and experienced team and we will have to be at our best to get a result. However, we are full of confidence and looking forward to the challenge.” Looking ahead to his team’s quarter-final against France, Australia’s Trent Mitton – who will make his 150thsenior international appearance in the match and whose father Grant was part of Australia’s 1986 World Cup-winning side – said: “On the World Cup so far I think our

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December 10 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: England and France were triumphant on the first day of the knock-out phase of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, sealing their places in the competition quarter-finals with victories over New Zealand and China respectively. England’s triumph against the Black Sticks sets up a quarter-final clash against Olympic champions Argentina, the team that defeated them in the bronze medal match at the 2014 World Cup in The Hague four years ago. For France, their success against China means that the competition’s lowest ranked team must now face a quarter-final meeting against the event’s highest, with reigning world champions Australia being their opponents in the last eight. England (FIH Hero World Ranking: 7) arguably had the better of the first period against New Zealand that was short on genuine goal-scoring opportunities, with England goalkeeper George Pinner stepping out to deny Hugo Inglis while New Zealand (WR:9) shot-stopper Richard Joyce made a comfortable glove save from Mark Gleghorne’s penalty corner drag-flick. England took the lead in the second quarter thanks to a close-range finish from Will Calnan, although the undisputed architect was Phil Roper, who escaped his marker before bursting into the circle and coolly lifting the ball over Joyce for Calnan to force home at the back post. That advantage was almost doubled when Liam Ansell’s strike flew just wide of the target before New Zealand’s Nick Ross stung the pads of Pinner with a ferocious volley from the top of the circle, giving Danny Kerry’s team a timely reminder that this match was far from over. Stephen Jenness came close to levelling the scores on three occasions in the third quarter, but it was England who doubled the advantage a minute before the end of the period to make life increasingly difficult for the Black Sticks. A penalty corner from Adam Dixon rattled the right post before Luke Taylor smashed home the follow-up to put England firmly in control of the match. New Zealand replaced their goalkeeper with an outfield player in the latter stages, but England’s defence held firm to secure a berth in the competition quarter-finals. When asked about how it feels to reach the last eight of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, Phil Roper said: “It feels absolutely amazing. This was a really tough game again. We’re starting to build some momentum. First a really good performance against Ireland and now a pretty good performance against the Kiwis who are a really, really tough side. We’re delighted to come away with a clean sheet and score a couple of good goals.” Looking ahead to the match-up against Argentina, Roper was cautiously optimistic. “Obviously they’re a really good team, but we’re very excited”, said Roper, who today wore the captain’s armband. “As I said, we’ve built a momentum. We’ve played two games while they’ve been resting so maybe we’re building something. It will be a tough game but we’re starting something and we’re really enjoying it.” France (WR:20) and China (WR:17) started this World Cup as the lowest ranked teams in the competition, but both had made it through to the knock-out stages of the event. Neither wanted their journey to end here, but it was fate awaiting one of these nations. The two teams came into this match on the back of very different results, with France having stunned Olympic champions Argentina with a 5-3 victory while China were crushed 11-0 by reigning world champions Australia. Despite those outcomes, the early stages of this match were far closer than many had predicted, with China’s defensive line being particularly impressive. The match remained score-less in the second quarter, although France certainly had the better chances with Blaise Rogeau twice going close and Etienne Tynevez hitting the left post of the China goal with an angled deflection. Shortly after China’s E Wenhui forced a save from France goalkeeper Arthur Thieffry in the early stages of the third quarter, Les Bleus finally broke the deadlock thanks to a true striker’s finish from Nicolas Clemont, who guided Maximilien Branicki’s cross-shot into the China goal. China responded immediately by winning a penalty corner, but the attempt on goal from Du Talake was deemed dangerous after hitting France defender Victor Charlet on the knee. China had two penalty corner opportunities to pull themselves level in the final quarter, but it was not to be. France, the lowest ranked team in the competition, were into the quarter-finals, much to the delight of Head Coach Jeroen Delmee. “I’m really happy with the performance”, said former Netherlands international Delmee. “Offensively we did very well, but just failed to score [goals] two and three, and we were a bit unlucky also with the ball hitting the post, but the most important thing for us is to win. To be ranked number 20 and to reach the top eight is an amazing achievement for the team.” Looking ahead to a quarter-final meeting against title holders Australia, Delmee said: “Now we have another big opponent. We beat the Olympic champion and maybe we can beat the world champion, but it may be a different story. We will prepare as best we can and hopefully we can perform another very good match with our team.” France’s Viktor Lockwood was named as the Odisha Player of the Match on the occasion of his 100th senior international appearance. The final two cross-over play-off matches take place on 11 December, with Belgium (WR:3) taking on Pakistan (WR:13) at 16:45 IST (UTC +5.30) with the winner playing Germany in the quarter-finals. The 1900 match will be contested between Netherlands (WR:4) and Canada (WR:11), with the winner setting up a quarter-final clash against host nation India (WR:5). The Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 takes place between 28 November and 16 December. The Men’s World Cup is played every four years. For all information regarding the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, including the full schedule, teams, news and

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December 09 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: The pool phase of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 has come to an end, with Germany confirming themselves as the winners of Pool D while second placed Netherlands and third placed Pakistan reached the cross-over play-offs on Competition Day 12. Sadly, it proved to be the end of the line for Malaysia, whose fourth-place finish in Pool D resulted in their elimination from the event. Germany’s first place finish in Pool D earns them a direct ticket to the quarter-finals, where they will await the winner of the cross-over play-off match between Belgium (2nd Pool C) and Pakistan (3rd Pool D) on 11th December. A second-place finish for the Netherlands sets up a cross-over match against Canada (3rd Pool C) on 11 December, with the winner playing host nation India (1st Pool C) in the quarter-finals. Germany (FIH Hero World Ranking: 6) sealed their place at the top of the Pool D standings with a 5-3 victory over Malaysia (WR:12), but they certainly did not have everything their own way. Die Honamas were outstanding in the first period, with Timm Herzbruch finding the roof of the net from a penalty corner in the opening minute before Christopher Rühr crashed an unstoppable backhand effort into the top left corner just before the end of the quarter. Rühr played a decisive role in Germany’s third goal, surging into the circle before seeing his cross-shot touched home by Marco Miltkau. At 3-0, things were looking bleak for Malaysia, who desperately needed at least a draw if they were to have a realistic chance of reaching the knock-out phase. Remarkably, they dragged themselves back into the game with two goals just before half time. Razie Rahim scored the first before setting up the second, finding the goal with a penalty corner before providing the perfect assist for the diving Nabil Noor from another penalty corner situation. The two sides traded goals in the third quarter, with Miltkau once again showing his incredible reflexes to touch home another cross to make it 4-2 before Razie netted another to keep Malaysia within touching distance at 4-3. Malaysia found themselves reduced in numbers due to disciplinary cards for much of the final quarter, but that did not stop them having a great chance to pull his team level from a penalty corner situation. The effort was charged down, with Germany going straight down the other end to kill the game at 5-3 thanks to Herzbruch’s second goal of the day to all but end Malaysia’s hopes of remaining in the competition. “We are happy that we could win against Malaysia”, said Germany’s Tobias Hauke, who today made his 300thinternational appearance for Die Honamas, after the game. “It was a tough game. We started really well with 3-0 up in the beginning of the second quarter, but then we got a little bit in trouble. But I think Malaysia played quite nice today, they had good counter-attacks and good penalty-corners. We knew it before but we were not so concentrated in the third quarter in the defence. We’re really happy to be now through to the quarter-finals. That was our aim today. Finishing at the top of the pool is good for the self-confidence and for the rhythm.” Pakistan (WR:13) knew that by avoiding a heavy defeat against the Netherlands (WR:4) they would be certain of a place in the knock-out phase of the competition. A win against the Netherlands would be enough to move ahead of the Dutch into second place in the Pool, which would set-up a cross-over match against Canada, who finished third in Pool C, as opposed to Olympic silver medallists Belgium, Pool C’s second-placed finisher. The Netherlands were first to make a mark on the scoreboard when Thierry Brinkman netted from close range just seven minutes into the contest, but two minutes later Pakistan’s Umar Bhutta restored parity from a second phase penalty corner situation, sliding the ball under the body of onrushing Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak from a tight angle. Pakistan gave an excellent showing in the second period, but it was the Dutch who took a 2-1 lead into half time when a beautiful interchange between Valentin Verga and Odisha Player of the Match Seve Van Ass ended with the former firing a cool finish between the legs of Green Shirts shot-stopper Imran Butt. The Netherlands confirmed a second-place finish in Pool D with three goals in the second half, with Jeroen Hertzberger supplying Bob de Voogd for an easy finish before Jorrit Croon forced home a penalty corner from close range. A 5-1 score-line was completed by Mink van der Weerden, who slammed a stunning penalty corner into the roof of the net. It was the final goal of the pool phase, with total number of goals scored so far in Bhubaneswar being 111. Speaking after the match, Netherlands midfielder Robbert Kemperman said: “We played a very solid game. In the first two quarters Pakistan defended really well. It was difficult to find the gaps but we kept the pace high. I think we can be happy after this match.” Looking ahead to his team’s cross-over match against Canada, Kemperman said: “The Canadian team is physically very strong. We don’t know much about them so we’re going to analyse them tomorrow.” The knock-out phase of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 begins on Monday 10thDecember, with two cross-over play-off matches taking place. At 16:45 IST (UTC +5.30), England will play New Zealand, with the winner setting up a quarter-final meeting against Pool A winners and reigning Olympic champions Argentina on Wednesday 12 December. The second match on Monday sees France facing China, with Pool B winners and reigning world champions Australia lying in wait in the quarter-finals for the winner. Looking ahead to England’s meeting with New Zealand, co-captain David Ames said: “We haven’t played them too many times over the last few years, but we’ve seen from this tournament that they

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December 08 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: It all came down to goals in the final round of Pool C matches at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2018. Belgium knew they had to score a lot of goals against South Africa if they were to keep India from taking top spot in the pool. While their penalty corners were effective, the Red Lions lacked bite when it came to scoring from field play and a number of chances to score went to waste. In the second match, host nation India knew they purely needed a win over Canada in order to top the pool and win a ticket straight to the quarter-finals. A Canadian team, who defended brilliantly for the first two quarters and were on equal terms for the first three quarters, put pressure on India, but an exhilarating fourth quarter saw India storm to a 5-1 win and take pole position in Pool C. The opening game of the day was just 35 seconds old when South Africa (FIH Hero World Ranking 15) took the lead against their higher-ranked rivals, Belgium (WR:3). Nicholas Spooner was the scorer as he gathered the ball from a fantastic pitch-splitting pass from Rhett Halkett and then slammed it into the corner of Vincent Vanasch’s goal. However, Shane McLeod’s Red Lions have come to Bhubaneswar with a firm intention to make the podium and the higher ranked team quickly recovered from the setback and began to turn the screw, not just on South Africa, but also on India, who were vying with the Red Lions for the top of the pool. At the start of the game India had a superior goal difference – plus five to Belgium’s one – so Belgium’s task was clear. McLeod says that penalty corners have been a focal point for his side and the team soon demonstrated their efficiency in this area. Alexander Hendrickx is the in-form penalty corner specialist for Belgium at the moment and his two goals from penalty corners in the first half sandwiched a neatly taken field goal by Player of the Match Simon Gougnard. A fourth goal was added when Loick Luypaert also showed his prowess from the top of the circle. The half-time stats spoke for themselves, while possession was nearly equal between the teams, the significant figures for Belgium were three penalty corners, three goals. South Africa made their own chances in the opening 30 minutes with the best chance falling to Dayaan Cassiem. The midfielder received the ball in the centre of the Belgium circle and should have capitalised. His shot flew wide of Vanasch’s far post. The second half saw Belgium continuing to press forward, and Tom Boon will be disappointed not to have added to the score when he was through on goal twice in quick succession but was not balanced enough to shoot with any force. A series of three Belgium penalty corners were dealt with by Gowan Jones who replaced Rassie Pieterse in the South Africa goal. Hendrickx thought he had scored his third goal when he slotted home a penalty corner, but the injected ball was judged not to have left the circle before Hendrickx shot for goal. The final minutes of the third quarter saw South Africa pile on pressure of their own. A quick break found captain Tim Drummond on the baseline and he was able to slip the ball back to goalscorer Spooner. Unfortunately for South Africa, Spooner shot over the crossbar. Seconds later a penalty stroke was awarded to South Africa but was disallowed on referral. Belgium went into the final quarter knowing they needed to score more goals in order to keep the pressure on India and Cedric Charlier was quick to deliver. He pounced on a ball that was slipped from the baseline by Gougnard, who had muscled his way past the South Africa defence. The drama intensified in the final few minutes as Belgium sought another goal. For their part, South Africa were working hard to find a second goal but it was Belgium who found the net as the game came to an end. For Belgium’s goal difference this was crucial but the referral showed that the goal was scored after the final hooter had gone and the score remained 5-1 meaning India just needed a win over Canada in the second match of the day to finish top of the pool. Player of the Match Simon Gougnard was in critical mood despite the win as he discussed his team performance in the post-match interview: “I don’t think we put enough pressure on India tonight. We started poorly and we didn’t put enough pressure on South Africa throughout the match. We made a lot of stupid mistakes in the game. There is a lot for us to look back over and which we will work on. We must also work on our structure and try to reduce the number of turnovers during a game. Our penalty corner worked well, so we are quite pleased with that aspect of the game.” Belgium captain Thomas Briels added: “We did not start so well tonight but we played better and better. I think that’s a bit the difference with the first two games where we started really good but could not keep up our performances. So that’s really good to see. In the end we could have scored more goals if we would have been a bit more smart. During this first round, we played some really good hockey but we were not really consistent, so we have to analyse that and we can improve for the next round.” The second Pool C match pitted a stoic Canada team, who had conceded no penalty corners prior to this match, against an Indian side determined to take the top of the pool position. The first quarter saw a pressure cooker of an atmosphere slowly build on the pitch and in the stands. That tipped over in the

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December 06 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: France, the lowest ranked team competing at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, stunned the hockey world on Day Nine, defeating Olympic champions Argentina to seal a second-place finish in Pool A just behind the Pan American giants. A 5-3 victory for France against Los Leones was undisputedly the biggest shock of the competition so far, upsetting the FIH Hero World Rankings both in terms of the result and the effect on the final standings in the pool, with the European side finishing above higher-ranked New Zealand on goal difference and eliminating neighbours Spain from the competition. Spain (WR: 8) started the day two points behind opponents New Zealand (WR:9) but established a commanding 2-0 lead going into half time. Albert Beltran’s backhand shot flew into the roof of the New Zealand goal after just nine minutes, with the advantage being doubled by a close-range effort from Alvaro Iglesias two minutes before the end of the second quarter. New Zealand had a mountain to climb, but they proved worthy of the challenge. Following a scoreless third quarter, Hayden Phillips produced a moment of magic to drag his team back into the game, smashing into the top comer with nine minutes remaining. Sensing the come-back was on, Black Sticks Head Coach Darren Smith replaced his goalkeeper with an outfield player to increase the pressure on the Europeans. It works wonders, with Kane Russell scoring a low penalty corner drag-flick to move New Zealand up to second in the pool. “It’s a pretty good feeling in the end, but we probably didn’t control the game too well”, said goal-scorer Kane Russell. “We were struggling to create opportunities and their defence was really sound. The goal we scored and then taking our goalie off gave us a little bit of momentum.” For Spain, the draw against the Black Sticks moved them temporarily into third in the table, a point ahead of France (WR:20, who needed to get a result against Olympic champions and Pool A winners Argentina (WR:2) if they were to progress into the knockout stages. A win for France was enough for a second-place finish, but with an 18-place difference in the World Rankings, it was always going to be a big ask. However, the crowd at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium were in for a treat as the lowest ranked team in the competition produced something verging on the unbelievable. France stormed into a stormed into a 4-1 half time lead against their illustrious opponents, with Hugo Genestet, Victor Charlet, Aristide Coisne and Gaspard Baumgarten on target for the Europeans, with Lucas Martinez scoring for Los Leones. It was a fantasy half-time score-line for France, putting them within touching distance of a remarkable second place finish in the pool and would subsequently eliminate Spain from the competition. Although the lead held by France was a commanding one, Argentina have proven many times down the years that they are capable of coming back from unlikely positions. Gonzalo Peillat’s low penalty corner just before the end of the third quarter gave the South Americans hope, setting up a very exciting final quarter. Another ferocious penalty corner drag-flick from Peillat made it 4-3 at the start of the fourth period, but it was France who had the last say when Francois Goyet deflected home to seal an extraordinary 5-3 victory to move into the cross-over play-offs as the second placed finisher in Pool A. It’s really amazing, an incredible game for us”, said Odisha Player of the Match Hugo Genestet after the match. “I think the first half was almost perfect, although we stepped down a little bit after half time. They scored with one of the best drag flickers in the world, but out fifth goal was really cool, arriving at a good moment. We know we can beat every team in this competition, but 5-3 against the Olympic champion and to finish second in the pool, it’s incredible.” Despite the result, it was a milestone day for Argentina’s Agustin Mazzilli, who made his 200thsenior international appearance for Los Leones. On Friday 7th December, the final matches in Pool B will take place. Australia (WR:1), already confirmed as winners of this pool, take on undefeated China (WR:17) at 1700 IST (UTC +5.30) before Ireland (WR:10) and England (WR6) meet at 1900. China currently sit second in the pool with two points, while Ireland and England sit third and fourth respectively, level on points but separated by goal difference. The pool winner will earn a direct ticket to the quarter finals, while the teams that finish second and third will go into the cross-over play-offs. The team that finishes fourth will be eliminated from the competition. Assessing Australia’s fine start at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, Kookaburras defender Matthew Swann – a member of the World Cup winning squads from Delhi 2010 and The Hague 2014 – said: “Two wins, we’re sitting pretty at the moment in our pool. We’re happy with that but we know it’s a long road to go. There’s a lot of good competition ahead of us. We’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves. There’s a lot of work to do. We’re hopefully going to keep building from the England game.” Speaking ahead of his team’s head-to-head with Ireland, England co-captain George Pinner said: “I was really pleased with large parts of our performance last match [against Australia]. We stuck to the game plan and were very much in the game. The final score-line [3-0 defeat] is frustrating but I think there are lots of positives for us to build on and take into the final group game. The Ireland match is a big game, but we have been in this position before. We will do everything we can to prepare properly both mentally and physically to give ourselves the best chance of progressing.” Ireland Head Coach Alexander Cox said: “The game against England is very important,

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