Australia and England win thrillers

Game 7 – South Africa v. England: 4-6 (half-time: 2-2)

The two teams opening the third day of competition had very different World Cup experience; England have participated in ten out of eleven previous Cups and reached the final in 1986 while South Africa only had four modest appearances, with a tenth place as best result.

Match facts (South Africa v. England):
> This is the fifth ever World Cup match to see at least 10 goals being scored and the first since 1998, when Pakistan beat England 7-5.
> Today’s six goals mark the third highest score by England in a World Cup match. England had previously scored 7 goals against Cuba in 2002 (7-0) and six against Ghana in 1975 (6-1).
> Richard Mantell (ENG) added to his three goals from the 2006 World Cup to lift his total to five WC goals, all from penalty corners. Four of these he scored against South Africa.
> England have now converted 4 of 6 penalty corners awarded at Delhi 2010 (66%).
> South Africa lost their second successive game at the 2010 World Cup going down in the second half after a 2-2 half-time score.
> South Africa have now conceded 10 goals in 2 matches at Delhi 2010.
> RSA are still to convert their first penalty corner (4 have been awarded to them).

Game 8 – Pakistan v. Spain: 2-1 (half-time: 1-0)

The second game of the day started at full speed, with both teams pleasing the crowd with fast attacking moves that swept the whole length of the pitch. There were some hot situations in front of Francisco CORTES in the Spanish goal, but the defense managed to clear. After fifteen minutes of furious back and forth attacking, the tempo somewhat abated, both teams neutralizing each other before entering the shooting circle,

Match facts (Pakistan v. Spain):
> Pakistan beat Spain 2-1 to collect their first victory at Delhi 2010 and their 8th win over Spain in WC competition.
> Pakistan have are now unbeaten in their last 3 competitive matches against Spain. They also beat Spain at the 2007 CT (2-0) and drew 2-2 at the 2002 World Cup.
> Abdul Haseem Khan scored twice to lead Pakistan to victory. The last player to score multiple goals in a World Cup match for Pakistan was Muhammad Zubair vs NZL in 2006 (20 goals.)
> David Alegre scored the equaliser. He also scored for Spain in the match against South Africa.
> Both Spain and Pakistan are now on 3 points from 2 matches at the 2010 World Cup.

Game 9 – India v. Australia: 2-5 (half-time: 1-3)

The last game of the day started in a fiery atmosphere but the Aussies were not impressed by the deafening noise and the crowd was quickly silenced by a quick goal by Liam DE YOUNG calmly collecting a rebound from a shot on the crossbar. They extended their lead a few minutes later on a penalty-corner, Glenn TURNER pushing over the line a shot originally stopped by the Indian defense.

Match Facts (India v. Australia):
> India went down 5-2 and suffered their fifth straight defeat against Australia in World Cup competition.
> Liam De Young, Glenn Turner (2) and Dess Abbott all scored for the first time in World Cup competition.
> Luke Doerner scored once to add to his two goals from the 2006 World Cup.
> Vikram Pillay became the first India player since Prabhjot Singh in 2002 to score in a World Cup match against Australia.
> Rajpal Singh scored his third World Cup goal, adding to his goals in 2006 vs ARG and RSA.
> England lead Pool B with six points from two matches. Australia, Spain, India and Pakistan are all on three points. South Africa are botton, still awaiting their first point at this World Cup.

South Africa v. England 4:6 (2:2)
RSA 9mn Marvin HARPER (FG) 1:0
ENG 14mn Richard MANTELL (PC) 1:1
ENG 23mn Rob MOORE (FG) 1:2
RSA 25mn Lloyd NORRIS-JONES (FG) 2:2
ENG 43mn Ashley JACKSON (FG) 2:3
ENG 50mn Nick CATLIN (FG) 2:4
ENG 51mn Iain MACKAY (FG) 2:5
RSA 53mn Marvin HARPER (FG) 3:5
ENG 57mn Richard MANTELL (PC) 3:6
RSA 67mn Thornton McDADE (FG) 4:6

Pakistan v. Spain 2:1 (1:0)
PAK 30mn Abdul Haseem KHAN (FG) 1:0
ESP 65mn David ALEGRE (PC) 1:1
PAK 67mn Abdul Haseem KHAN (PC) 2:1

India v. Australia 2:5 (1:3)
AUS 2mn Liam DE YOUNG (FG) 0:1
AUS 7mn Glenn TURNER (PC) 0:2
AUS 26mn Desmond ABBOTT (FG) 0:3
IND 35mn Vikram PILLAY (FG) 1:3
AUS 42mn Luke DOERNER (PC) 1:4
AUS 43mn Glenn TURNER (PC) 1:5
IND 53mn Rajpal SINGH (FG) 2:5

Kiwis and Dutch make impact

Game 4 – New Zealand v. Canada: 3-2 (half-time: 1-2)

The last time New Zealand and Canada met in a World Cup was in 1998 in Utrecht; it ended in a tie (3-3) with current Canadian Coach Alan Brahmst scoring a penalty-corner for his team. Two current Canadian players, Ken PEREIRA and Rob SHORT, were already playing back then and were honoured before the start of today’s game for their 300th International Cap.

Match Facts (New Zealand v. Canada):
> New Zealand won 3-2 to extend their World Cup unbeaten run against Canada to three matches.
> Today’s victory ended New Zealand’s 4-match losing streak in WC competition.
> Ryan Archibald (NZL) 67th minute winner marked the third WC goal in his career. He has now scored in three successive World Cup tournaments.
> Archibald has now equalled the New Zealand record for scoring in most World Cup editions, held by Arthur Parkin and Ramesh Patel, who both scored in 1973, 1975 and 1982.
> Priyesh Bhana, Nick Haig (NZL), Mark Pearson (CAN) and Philip Wright (CAN) all scored on their World Cup debut.

Game 5 – Germany v. Korea: 2-2 (half-time: 0-2)

Two-time defending World Champions Germany started the defense of their title against Korea, a team against which they are unbeaten in World Cup history. Things did not start well for them: after scrambling two penalty-corners, they had to defend one earned after video-referral by the Koreans, and Hye Sung HYUN made no mistake to power his drag-flick past Maximilian MÜLLER in the German goal.

Match Facts (Germany v. Korea):
> Germany came back from 2 goals down to draw 2-2 with Korea and avoid their first defeat against Korea in 5 World Cup matches.
> Germany extended their World Cup unbeaten run to 14-matches, the third longest unbeaten streak in the history of the competition and the longest in 20 years.
> Germany have now failed to beat Korea in their last three competitive encounters drawing 3-3 at the 2008 Olympic Games, losing 5-3 at the 2009 Champions Trophy and drawing 2-2 at the 20101 World Cup.
> Korea led 2-0 at half-time. The last time GER were at least 2 goals behind at half-time in a World Cup match was in the 1994 Bronze medal match against AUS (4-0), which ended 5-2.
> Florian Fuchs scored his eighth international goal in only his eighth appearance for the German National team.

Game 6 – Netherlands v. Argentina: 3-0 (half-time: 2-0)

Argentina, the last of 12 nations to qualify for the Hero Honda FIH 2010 World Cup by winning the World Cup Qualification tournament at home in Quilmes, opened the competition against triple World Cup winners The Netherlands. The Dutch were immediately all over the South Americans, missing a few early goals after some fancy combinations, but Klaas VERMEULEN finally earned a penalty-corner in the 13th minute after a swift pass from Teun DE NOOIJER and Taeke TAEKEMA powered his drag-flick under the crossbar to open the scoring.

New Zealand v. Canada 3:2 (1:2)
CAN 1mn Mark PEARSON (FG) 0:1
NZL 11mn Priyesh BHANA (FG) 1:1
CAN 20mn Philip WRIGHT (FG) 1:2
NZL 47mn Nicholas HAIG (PC) 2:2
NZL 66mn Ryan ARCHIBALD (FG) 3:2

Germany v. Korea 2:2 (0:2)
KOR 4mn Hye Sung HYUN (PC) 0:1
KOR 15mn Nam Yong LEE (FG) 0:2
GER 50mn Florian FUCHS (FG) 1:2
GER 58mn Benjamin WESS (FG) 2:2

Netherlands v. Argentina 3:0 (2:0)
NED 13mn Taeke TAEKEMA (FG) 1:0
NED 35mn Taeke TAEKEMA (FG) 2:0
NED 61mn Taeke TAEKEMA (FG) 3:0