African Hockey Federation | France to face New Zealand as Spain pitted against Ireland in FIH Nations Cup final

08 Jun, 2024

France secured a ticket to the final of FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup Poland 2023-24 with a last-minute winner against South Africa in the semi-finals. They will play New Zealand for the top prize after the Black Sticks edged Pakistan.

The FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup Spain 2023-24 final will see a rematch of the tournament opener featuring the hosts and Ireland. Spain beat Chile while Ireland got the better of New Zealand in the semi-finals.

Classification matches saw both Canadian teams win in shootout. They will be joined by the Korean men’s team and the Japanese women’s team in the fifth-place matches.

(Men’s) Austria 1-1 Canada (SO:1-3)

Canada shocked Austria in the shootout to qualify for the fifth-place match after the game finished 1-1 in normal time. After conceding early goals in their previous games, the Canadians started slow, focusing on defence. However, it wasn’t that both teams didn’t create chances. Canada had their best 30 minutes since arriving in Gniezno but the score remained 0-0 after the first half.

The Red Caribou opened the scoring in the end as Hudson Loh made a great run into the circle before a spectacular finish in the 38th minute for his first international goal. The Canadians were controlling the game better but with six minutes remaining, a penalty corner saw Florian Hackl equalise. The shootout saw Loh score the all-important goal along with Brendan Guraliuk and Roopkanwar Dhillon. Fabian Unterkircher scored the only goal for the Austrians.

Hudson Loh of Canada, who was named player of the match, was pleased with his first goal and said: “First international goal. It is super exciting and we got a good result. It’s good to get a win. To get a win against a team ranked above us is spectacular.”

(Men’s) Malaysia 3-4 Korea

Korean captain Jaehyeon Kim stole the show as they beat Malaysia 3-4 in a seven-goal thriller in Gniezno. The first quarter saw plenty of chances as two pacy sides went about their business but the scoreline remained 0-0. Fortunately, that was not a sign of things to come. The second quarter saw four goals starting with the Malaysians. Aiman Rozemi stole the ball from midfield and ran from the left before crossing towards Faizal Saari. The pass was blocked but the rebound fell kindly as the duo combined for Saari to tap in.

Sung Yeob Kim made it 1-1 from a penalty corner before the Koreans took the lead through Inwoo Seo, who slid in at the far post to meet a Sunghyun Kim pass. The match became end-to-end as Saari got his and Malaysia’s second in the final minute of the first half. The goals were coming thick fast with Malaysia going ahead as Marhan Jalil squared one for Abu Kamal Azrai to tap in from a penalty corner in the 35th minute. Three minutes later, Dohyun Lim made it 3-3.

Junking Rim put the Koreans in front, reacting smartly from a penalty corner in the 47th minute. However, the hero of the day was goalkeeper Jaehyeon Kim, who produced a brilliant penalty stroke save among other brilliant moments.

Jaehyeon Kim acknowledged that it was a tough outing after winning player of the match and said: “Our boys had good speed and good performance. The penalty corners had some good finishes. The win is important because of world ranking points. I am so happy.”

(Men’s) France 2-1 South Africa

France broke South African hearts at the very end to reach the final of the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup in Poland. It took almost until the end of the first quarter to see France in full swing, creating some chances. The second quarter saw them step it up, winning a penalty corner in the 16th minute. However, it did not work in their favour and a quick and devastating counterattack involving Tevin Kok and Nqobile Ntuli ended with the latter scoring at the other end.

The Olympic hosts continued to apply pressure but were not able to break a sturdy South African backline. The best chance for Les Bleus came when Timothée Clément took advantage of a rare defensive error from their opponents only to fire inches wide. After many attempts, a goal came out of nowhere when Gaspard Baumgarten deflected a pass that travelled with venom. The momentum from the goal meant that South Africa had to give it all as the French attacked. A flurry of penalty corners in the last minute of the game saw Victor Charlet find the gap in style.

Gaspard Xavier from France was awarded player of the match and said: “It was a very good performance from the team. We came back from 1-0 down. It’s a great victory. It’s good preparation for Paris (Olympics). But we have the final before that.“

(Men’s) New Zealand 2-1 Pakistan

New Zealand will face France in the final of the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup after edging Pakistan 2-1 in the semi-final. New Zealand came into the game with a strategy, and it took only two minutes for the Black Sticks to go in front as Kane Russell fired an unstoppable penalty corner in. The confidence from the early goal meant that New Zealand was dictating the tempo.

They got their second with four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Hugo Inglis did brilliantly on the right and found Jake Smith, who provided a sliding finish on the other side. Pakistan’s attacking flair has been a talking point of the tournament. However, they were not able to find that extra gear to score a goal in the first three quarters. Credit to New Zealand’s defenders, who had the discipline to find a solution for every problem that was thrown their way.

The Green Shirts, however, managed to find a way as a lovely team move was finished by Ashraf Rana Waheed with five minutes remaining. But it wasn’t meant to be for Pakistan, who will now play in the third-place match against South Africa.

Blair Tarrant of New Zealand won player of the match and said: “Semi-finals are always tough. We have played some great games against Pakistan already this year. It was hard. They counterattacked with speed and skill, which we knew they would, but we managed to do well.”

(Women’s) Japan 5-3 Italy

Japan were ruthless against Italy in the first half, winning 5-3 in Terrassa despite a late surge from the women in blue unsettling the Olympic-bound Japanese. The Cherry Blossoms looked dangerous up front and scored on their first attempt. It came in the fourth minute via a penalty corner thanks to Kana Urata. Amiru Shimada then delivered a stylish top-corner finish in the final minute of the first quarter.

Rika Ogawa made it 3-0 when her cross from the right was deflected by the keeper only for it to hit Azul Gilardi and go in. They finished the first half in style, as Shihori Oikawa slotted in from the spot. Japan did not sit back on their four-goal cushion as Shimada got her second and Japan’s fifth immediately after the restart. When all hope was lost, Federica Carta’s dribble into the circle found Maria Lunghi who sent in a rocket in the 40th minute. Two more well-taken field goals from Antonella Bruni and Lara Oviedo softened the blow for the Italians.

Japan’s Amiru Shimada, who was judged player of the match, stressed about conceding three goals and said: “It was good that we could win in the end. We did concede three goals and that’s something we should reflect on.”

(Women’s) Korea 2-2 Canada (SO: 3-4)

Canada’s women too passed the shootout test as they won against Korea in Spain. After a 2-2 draw, a dramatic shootout followed as they won 3-4. It was a dream start for the Canadians as Sara Goodman’s low and hard drive from a penalty corner put them in front within six minutes. The Koreans didn’t let the early goal dictate their mood, constantly threatening Canada and winning seven penalty corners in the first half. In the 27th minute, one of them was converted by Seoyeon Park.

The game was one-sided for long periods and the Koreans went ahead as Sujin An found captain Jungeu Seo, who blasted in from an acute angle after a nicely-worked penalty corner routine in the 42nd minute. Canada came alive 10 minutes later with a bit of magic from Kathleen Leahy, who dribbled from the right flank to find Nora Goddard-Despot who slotted it in. A lengthy referral meant the Canadians had a nervous few minutes before getting to celebrate.

The shootout also had its fair share of drama and emotions with the video referee called into action more than once. In the end, it was Canada’s day with Rowan Harris stepping up when the going got tough.

Kathleen Leahy played a role in the shootout as well and won the player of the match. She said: “Really excited to get a result from this game. We worked super hard to work our way back into it. We need to work on our defence against Japan.”

(Women’s) New Zealand 1-2 Ireland

Ireland came back from a goal down to beat New Zealand 1-2 to secure a spot in the final of the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup in Spain. It was a mixed first half for both sides as far as chances were concerned and the lack of being clinical meant that it ended 0-0. The two teams had opportunities from penalty corners as well, but could not find the back of the net.

The deadlock was finally broken chaotically by New Zealand in the 35th minute as Katie Doar’s run and pass from the right resulted in a massive scramble that ended with Ross Tynan poking it in.

Within four minutes, Ireland equalised. A penalty corner saw Roisin Upton find Kathryn Mullan on the left side. The Irish captain opted for one more pass for Sarah Hawkshaw to equalise. The winner came in the 51st minute when Hawkshaw’s brilliant play on the baseline was met with a cheeky finish by Sarah Torrans.

With a goal and assist, Sarah Hawkshaw of Ireland won player of the match and said: “I think today it was a bit of a battle. We knew it was going to be. We set ourselves up for a fight and it took a lot of resilience as a whole group to get through. I am proud of the girls and the coaching staff as well.”

(Women’s) Spain 2-1 Chile

Spain held on to defeat Chile 2-1 and will face pool phase opponents Ireland in the final of the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup. The hosts wasted no time in letting their Latin American opponents know what they could expect over four quarters. It took them only three minutes to make a mark through a penalty corner.

The technique saw Alejandra Torres-Quevedo have the final say, thumping an unstoppable strike into the top corner. The second goal for the Spaniards came in the eighth minute through yet another penalty corner. This time, skipper Maria Lopez’s effort was flicked in by Begoña Garci.

Chile too showed that they were not going to settle, winning penalty corners in the first half. One of those efforts resulted in a penalty stroke in the final minute of the second quarter and Denise Rojas Losada made no mistake from the spot. While it has been a walk in the park for the hosts so far this tournament, Las Diablas were posing serious questions with 15 minutes to go. However, they managed to hold on and will play for the title in front of home fans.

Blanca Pérez of Spain won the player of the match and said: “We knew it was going to be a hard match. We haven’t had a lot of time to prepare for this tournament. But we were comfortable and we did well even though they were a hard team to beat.”

FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup – 8 June 2024

Hockey Stadium – Gniezno, (POL)

Result: Match 17 (M)

Austria 1-1 Canada (SO:1-3)

Player of the match: Hudson Loh (CAN)

Umpires: Munashe Mashoko (ZIM), Tim Bond (NZL), Haroon Rashid (PAK-video)

Result: Match 18 (M)

Malaysia 3-4 Korea

Player of the match: Jaehyeon Kim (KOR)

Umpires: Benjamin Peters (USA), Erik Etsebeth (RSA), Munashe Mashoko (ZIM-video)

Result: Match 20 (M)

France 2-1 South Africa