by Hockey Supporter
17. June 2009 05:25
On the last day of second stage pool matches in Johor Bahru, Belgium defeated Japan to secure second place in pool G, Argentina dispatched Spain to book a spot in the match for 5th place, Chile defeated the USA to face Russia in the match for 17th place in their last match in this competition, and Pakistan blitzed past Korea to take third place in pool F. In the late match, Malaysia and Egypt split the points.
Belgium defeat Japan 6:2 (2:2)
Against Japan, Belgium blitzed to a clear victory in the twelve last minutes of the match after a hard-fought match in which both sides had their opportunities.
Japan got on the scoreboard first, as Ryota Kubo converted an early penalty corner, but in a seesawing first half, Belgium equalized with a Maximilien Peeters penalty corner goal. Belgium then took the lead when Felix Denayer scored off the next penalty corner, but only to see Japan pull even again within a minute through Harayuki Fujiyoshi.
The second half continued similarly for quite a while, until Belgium decided to put their stamp on the match late in the game. Maximilien Peeters sank his second goal of the day to reclaim the lead, Tom Boon piled on two, and Felix Denayer snatched his second goal of the day in the dying seconds of the match for the 6:2 final score.
The result puts Belgium in second place in pool G to play for 11th place, while Japan end up third to play for 13th place.
Argentina defeat Spain 4:1 (0:1)
In another curious match, in which the two participants were equal opponents in the first half, Argentina turned the match upside-down in the second half to claim victory coming from behind.
One goal down after a mere three minutes, when Gabriel Dabanch sank a no frills penalty corner for Spain, it looked like the titleholders would struggle to make up for the early disadvantage in an otherwise even battle, but with a fierce comeback after halftime, Argentina secured the win and third place in their second stage pool.
Juan Cruz Agullero scored a goal from open play for the equalizer, which was immediately followed by another field goal from Nahuel Salis, catching the Spanish entirely on the wrong foot. Martin Gebhardt piled on another seven minutes later, converting a penalty cornern, upon which the Southamericans already celebrated victory.
With the Spanish crushed and visibly desperate after going from a goal ahead to two goals down in a span of just over eight minutes, Argentina was now miles ahead, and even added a foruth goal little later when Leandro Tolini sank another short corner. The Argentines now didn't have much difficulty sailing through on their lead, as Spain had nothing more to give.
Argentina next play in the match for fifth place, while Spain will dispute the match for 7th place.
Chile defeat USA 2:1 (2:0)
In a battle of hard working teams, Chile defeated the USA with two first half goals that the US boys could not overcome despite having the advantage in numbers for a big part of the second half as Chile collected three yellow cards after the break.
Sven Richter and Martin Rodriguez scored for Chile in the first half without the USA being able to answer in kind, but not for a lack of trying. The US boys fought tooth and nail to claw their way into the 17th place play-off but to no avail - Jon Ginolfi managed a late consolation goal, but time ran out, and Chile took victory.
Pakistan defeat Korea 5:1 (3:0)
The clash of Asian teams in Johro Bahru today was an uneven match with the Greenshirts staking their claim early and never looking back, waltzing to an easy 5:1 win that takes Pakistan into the fifth place play-off in which they will face Argentina.
Belgium - Japan 6:2 (2:2)
JPN - Ryota KUBO PC 8m
BEL - Maximilien PEETERS PC 21m
BEL - Felix DENAYER PC 30m
JPN - Harayuki FUJIYOSHI FG 31m
BEL - Maximilien PEETERS PC 58m
BEL - Tom BOON PC 65m
BEL - Tom BOON FG 69m
BEL - Felix DENAYER FG 70m
Spain - Argentina 1:4 (1:0)
ESP - Gabriel DABANCH PC 3m
ARG - Juan Cruz AGULLERO FG 40m
ARG - Nahuel SALIS FG 42m
ARG - Martin GEBHARDT PC 49m
ARG - Leandro TOLINI PC 56m
USA - Chile 1:2 (0:2)
CHI - Sven RICHTER FG 11m
CHI - Martin RODRIGUEZ FG 30m
USA - Jon GINOLFI FG 63m
Korea - Pakistan 1:5 (0:3)
PAK - Abbas HAIDER FG 3m
PAK - Muhammad ZUBAIR FG 13m
PAK - Abdul Haseem KHAN FG 28m
PAK - Muhammad ZUBAIR FG 42m
PAK - Abdul Haseem KHAN FG 68m
KOR - Moon Kyu KANG PC 70m
Malaysia - Egypt 2:2 (1:1)
MAS - Faizal SAARI PS 25m
EGY - Mahmoud HAMDE PC 28m
MAS - Mohd Nor Hafiq ABDUL GAFFAR PC 47m
EGY - Hamada ATEF PC 69m
(source: worldhockey.org)
