Netherlands trounce Pakistan to reach semis smoothly: Green shirts fail to qualify for Champions Trophy

BEIJING, Aug 19: Drag-flick specialist Taeke Taekema continued his dazzling run as the Netherlands became the first team to breeze into the semi-finals when they beat Pakistan 4-2 at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.

Taekema banged two goals in a space of 12 minutes as the Athens Olympic Games silver medallist, the Netherlands, came from a goal down to kick Pakistan out not only of the fifth place play-off but also of the next year’s Champions Trophy in Melbourne, Australia.

Pakistan will now be playing for the seventh place on Thursday.

Green shirts, the three-time Olympic champions, have failed for the fourth time in 15 Olympic appearances to make it to the medals round.

Their last Olympic bronze medal came in 1992 at Barcelona.

With four wins, the Dutch raised their points tally to 13 with one draw against Australia in pool “B”.

Taekema, who converted two of the six penalty-corners in the match, raised his personal tally of goals to ten in the event.

Hyun Jang Jong of Korea is second with five goals.

The Netherlands, needing a draw, made a sluggish start as Pakistan dominated the first session.

Pakistan went ahead in the 28th minute of the match when Mohammad Imran had his second goal of the tournament with a powerful flick giving no chance to experienced Dutch goalkeeper Guus Vogels. It was a fine move by Shafqat Rasool, which earned Pakistan a short-corner.

The Dutch wasted all their three penalty-corners in the first session, thanks to brilliant work by goalkeeper Nasir Ahmed who received a blow on the hand and received treatment just before the interval.

Only after six minutes in the second session, Matthijs Brouwer scored a superb goal after a smart pass from Teun de Nooijer to make it 1-1.

Dutch earned their fourth penalty-corner in the 46th minute and Taeke Taekema made no mistake in drag-flicking the ball to the right side of the goal.

Fast-moving Dutch forwards kept Pakistan under pressure and Taekema scored off his team’s fifth penalty-corner to take the lead to 3-1 in the 58th minute.

Halfback Adnan Maqsood reduced Pakistan’s deficit when he intelligently deflected a penalty-corner strike from Mohammad Imran on the third penalty-corner in the 65th minute.

Nooijer’s brilliant pass to Jeroen Hertberger a minute before the final hooter helped the Netherlands to consolidate their position with their fourth goal.

In other matches of the day, title-holders Australia played a 3-3 draw against Great Britain.

Eddie Ockenden scored the equaliser for the Kookaburras two minutes before the final whistle of a dramatic game in which the spirited British team kept the favourites on their toes.

Versatile striker Santiago Freixa slammed two goals as Spain, regarded by many as the best team never to have won the Olympic gold, outplayed South Korea 2-1 in a match they only had to draw to qualify.

Earlier, the Germans fought off New Zealand 3-1 to end the preliminary league with three wins and two draws.

In Thursday’s semi-finals, world number one Australia clash with fourth-ranked Spain, while third-placed Netherlands take on number two Germany.

The semi-final line-up is identical to the one at Athens four years ago where Australia won their maiden title by beating the Dutch in the final.

Spain topped pool ‘A’ with 12 points, one ahead of Germany. The Netherlands finished first in pool B with 13 points, two more than Australia.

Results:

Pool ‘A’:

Germany 3 (Timo Wess 5, Matthias Witthaus 9, Florian Keller 55) New Zealand 1 (Hayden Shaw 46).

Spain 2 (Santiago Freixa 13, 53) South Korea 1 (Yoon Sung-Hoon 69).

Belgium 3 (Xavier Reckinger 28, Jerome Truyens 32, John Dohmen 48) China 1 (Song Yi 4).

Pool ‘B’:

Netherlands 4 (Matthijs Brouwer 41, Taeke Taekema 46, 58, Jeroen Hertzberger 69) Pakistan 2 (Mohammad Imran 28, Adnan Maqsood 65).

Canada 5 (Robert Short 15, Wayne Fernandes 31, 46, Connor Grimes 38, 70) South Africa 3 (Austin Smith 4, Lungile Tsolekile 28, 51).