Hockey In London Olympics 2012---- Pakistan Defeated By England

Britain tamed Pakistan 4-1 in their crunch Pool A game of the London Olympics 2012 Men’s Field Hockey Tournament at Riverbank Arena, Olympic Park here on Friday. It was a good victory for Britain after their frustrating draw against South Africa. The win elevates Britain to seven points, only second to Australia in the pool rankings on goal difference while Pakistan remain on four points in third place.
Pakistan offered little in response to the hosts’ adventurous counter-attacking and solid defence. The Pakistan defence was repeatedly caught flat-footed by the long balls that Britain employed with success while swinging from defence to attack in the blink of an eye. Their slick ball rotation too put the greenshirts in a tangle. James Tindall scored after four minutes and Jonty Clark doubled the lead before half-time. Ashley Jackson produced a master-class to help propel Britain into a strong position with an all round display of class and guile. His two penalty corner goals in the second session made it 4-0 that blew Pakistan away. Skipper Sohail Abbas responded with a late consolation goal for Pakistan.
As always, Pakistan’s game was all about instinct and individual skills rather than any structure or plan in sharp contrast to the well-drilled Britain who epitomized team effort. It was the Pakistan midfield and deep defence that were guilty of unpardonable lapses by way of leaving a lot of space for the Britain forwards and also poor marking inside the striking circle. The first half’s main talking point, though, was a bizarre green card situation. Muhammad Waqas was green carded but Pakistan ended up with eleven still on the pitch that umpire Marcelo Servetto spotted soon after. Sohail was made to join Waqas on the sideline for the technical foul.
Within a minute of the second half starting Pakistan won three successive penalty corners but goalkeeper James Fair stood up well to the threat of specialist Sohail. Jackson netted penalty corner flicks in the 50th and 67th minutes - the first was a low bullet the second hitting the rafters of the goal. Sohail did get one back, his 347th international goal, in the dying moments.
“It was very important for us after a nightmare performance against South Africa but that was a much better performance, there was a lot more fight about us,” said Jackson in his post match comments. “It wasn’t easy at all. We knew that if we slipped up here then it was going to be very difficult from here on in, so we were playing with a bit of fear, which always makes it a bit better.”
Argentina surprise Australia with 2-2 draw: Argentina came back from a 2-goal deficit to tie world champions Australia and earn their first point of the competition in the Pool A. Australia seemed to have the game well under control at half-time and will certainly regret the many wasted opportunities in second half that cost them a third win.
Argentina captain Matias Vila scored his side’s first goal just after halftime from open play and defender Gonzalo Peillat levelled the match from a penalty corner in the final minutes. Australian midfielder Matthew Butturini scored from an 11th-minute penalty corner, and Jamie Dwyer added Australia’s second with a 35th-minute field goal. The goal was Dwyer’s fourth of the tournament and his 180th for Australia, making him the all-time top scorer for his team, overtaking forward Mark Hager.
Australia had multiple scoring opportunities in the second half but their shots were wide, high or hit the post while Argentina were far less wasteful. The end of game was heated, with green and yellow cards handed out and a video-referral refusal for Argentina that drew loud boos from the crowd, but the score stood at 2-2.
Germany overwhelm India 5-2: Germany taught India hockey lesson with a 5-2 victory in the Pool B game. It was India’s third straight defeat and they are out of medal contention and have to be content to play for minor positions regardless of their results against South Korea and Belgium in their remaining two league games.
The Germans, while recording their third consecutive win, gave a fine exhibition of their efficiency based on strong basics. India after an enthusiastic 15 minutes at the start, simply caved in under pressure. Leading the German charge was 20-year old Florian Fuchs with three strikes (7th, 16th, 37th minutes) and Oliver Korn (24th) and Christopher Wesley (33rd) chipped in with one apiece while India’s goals came from Ramachandra Raghunath, whose 14th minute drag-flick got deflected into the net, and Tushar Khandkar (62nd minute).
Netherlands rout New Zealand 5-1: New Zealand surprised the Dutch with an early Simon Child goal, but the Netherlands replied with five unanswered goals to stay on top in the Pool B with their third win in so many matches. The Netherlands are now virtually assured of a semi-final berth with nine points. On a penalty-corner earned by Robbert Kemperman in the 15th minute after a long run through defenders, Roderick Weusthof’s flick was well saved by Kyle Pontifex in goal for New Zealand but a stroke was given on the play and Weusthof did not miss his second chance to tie the score at 1-1. Play was fast and physical between these two athletic teams, and Billy Bakker earned another penalty-stroke, this time converted by Mink Van Der Weerden to put the Netherlands back on top. The Dutch deepened the gap soon after by Billy Bakker, on hand to deflect in goal a shot by Rogier Hofman who had just run 50 meters with defenders on his heels. The score stayed at 3-1 for the Netherlands going into the break.
Two more goals were scored by Holland in the second session to seal the fate of their rivals. Billy Bakker received a deep ball at full speed to score his second goal of the match, establishing a seemingly insurmountable 4-1 lead for the Netherlands. Robbert Kemperman added the fifth and final goal.