MUSCAT: Netherlands defeated hosts Oman 5-3 in semifinals of 2024 FIH Men’s Hockey5s World Cup (Oman 2024) on Tuesday to make it to the final. At the Hockey Oman Stadium in Al Amerat, the Oman players delivered a solid performance despite the defeat while the Dutch continued to set the standard for the tournament with a top show.
Oman will vie for a bronze medal against the losers of Poland and Malaysia match, last match on Tuesday.
The final match of the hockey5s world class event is scheduled to take place on Wednesday at 8:20 pm (Oman time) while the third and fourth play-off on the same day at 7:10 pm (Oman time).
In the Oman and Netherlands game, the hosts were trailing in the first half by 3-0 after Schop Alexander, De Wijn Sander and Van Der Drift Yannick found the target by the half-time break before then extending their lead in the second half to get a 5-3 victory.
Rashad al Fazari and his team-mates failed in the first half to convert many scoring attempts to goals following the good saves by Netherlands goalie Schaper Koene.
In the second half, Oman head coach Aikman Siegfried instructed the players to focus more on the attacking side. De Wijn Sander began the second half strongly as he netted the fourth goal for the Netherlands while Rashad al Fazari scored the first Omani goal in this half in the 19th minute. Two minutes later, Khalid al Shuaibi added the second goal in style to make it 4-2 before Van Aart Jamie came back again to score the fifth goal in the 23rd minute.
Sami al Laun managed to score the concluding goal for Oman to end the game at 5-3 for the Dutch.
OMAN BEAT KENYA
Earlier on Tuesday, Oman secured spot in the semifinal after they beat Kenya 5-2 in a thrilling match. The national team players produced an excellent show that confirmed Oman’s presence in the last four in a historic achievement.
Oman’s Rashad al Fazari took the lead for his team after a perfect corner goal in the 9th minute and within the same minute, Khalid al Shuaibi doubled the lead for Oman to 2-0. Masambu Bethuel netted the first goal for Kenya in the 13th minute through field goal to end the first half at 2-1 for the hosts.
In the following quarter, Asama Barazhan struck the third goal before Khalid al Shuaibi added two more goals in the 20th and 22nd minute to raise Oman’s hopes in advancing to the historic semifinals. Masambu Bethuel managed to score the team’s second goal again in the 23rd minute to conclude the match at 5-2.
In another match, Netherlands outplayed India 7-4 to book slot in the semifinals. It was a top match for De Wijn Sander and Schop Alexander as they netted two goals each to support their teams to clinch crucial spot to the last four.
Egypt failed to restrict Poland as the African nation were knocked out in the FIH Men’s Hockey5s World Cup despite their outstanding show in the group stage with three wins. Malaysia clinched a tough win as they managed to outclass Trinidad and Tobago 5-4 in the quarters on Tuesday.
In other placement matches, Egypt thumped Trinidad and Tobago 8-5. India, who missed semifinals attendance after defeat from Netherlands, won against Kenya 9-4 in the 5th to 8th place. Switzerland beat New Zealand in shootout after a 7-7 draw. Pakistan thrashed Australia 11-3 while Nigeria and Fiji match registered 10 goals as the game ended in 2-1 in shootout after a 5-5 draw. US produced emphatic 8-1 win over Jamaica in another placement match for 13th-16th positions.
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