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Australia outclass England 3-0 in Pool B tie

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Bhubaneswar, India: Australia outclassed England 3-0 in a complete one-sided Pool B affair of the ongoing 2018 Hockey World Cup at the Kalinga stadium here on Tuesday.


With this win, Australia topped their group chart with two wins from as many games and six points in their kitty, while England are at the second spot after suffering a loss and playing a draw.


The contest remained goalless for the first three quarters before Jake Whetton found the back of the net in the 47th minute to put Australia ahead.


Three minutes later, Blake Govers’ goal extended Australia’s lead to 2-0, while Corey Weyer also scored in the 56th minute to make the scoreline read 3-0.


On Monday, Argentina claimed their second successive Pool A victory to put themselves within touching distance of the quarterfinals.


Argentina’s 3-0 victory over New Zealand sees them move onto six points at the top of the pool, three points ahead of second placed New Zealand with one round of matches to play. Spain and France — who drew in the day’s earlier match — ended the day in third and fourth position respectively.


“It was a great game for us,” said Argentina’s Lucas Vila, who was named Odisha Player of the Match, at the end of the game. “I think our defence was really strong and in attack we took our chances and scores some good goals. Its only two games so there is a long way to go, but I think we are in a good way and now we have a few days to make some little changes.”


Spain (FIH Hero World Ranking: 8) and France (WR:20) started the day needing to recover from opening day defeats — Spain lost to Argentina while France fell to New Zealand — and get some crucially important points on the board. France struck early in the contest when Victor Charlet’s perfect backhand pass was guided home from close range by Timothée Clément, who changed the trajectory of the ball to give Spain shot-stopper Quico Cortes little hope of saving.


The Red Sticks dominated the second quarter, setting up camp in the opposition half but unable to get the goal that their endeavour deserved thanks to some excellent saves from France goalkeeper Arthur Thieffry.


While a penalty corner drag-flick from France captain Victor Charlet forced a fine save from Cortes in the third quarter, it was the Spaniards who remained on top and finally got their equaliser early in the fourth period. Alvaro Iglesias was the scorer, completing a slick passing move that cut through the France defence and allowed Spain’s number nine the easiest of finishes. Although it proved to be the final goal of game, France missed a gilt-edged opportunity to claim all three points when a penalty stroke from Hugo Geneset was brilliantly saved by a diving Cortes, cementing his position as the Odisha Player of the Match in the process.


“Quico was the best player of the game,” said Spain’s Marc Salles — who made his 200th senior international appearance in the match — after the game. “When you have a goalkeeper who makes a save from a penalty stroke, you can only congratulate him. We are pleased with the draw in the end but we want to keep getting better and better in this tournament.”


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