DUTCH HAT-TRICK HERO TAEKE TAEKEMA
ORANGE AND MAPLE FOLLOWING
SPANISH READY FOR HOSTS CHINA
SLEEPY .... Maurits not a morning man.BEIJING, Aug 15, 2008 (AFP) - Spanish coach Maurits Hendricks hit out at the early morning starts after his team cruised towards the Olympic men’s hockey semi-finals with their third successive win on Friday.
Spain zipped to the top of pool A with a 2-1 victory over hosts China and need a win and a draw in their remaining games against Germany and South Korea to make the last four.
The Netherlands, losing finalists at Athens four years ago after winning the previous two Olympics in Atlanta and Sydney, also remained unbeaten in pool B after a 4-2 success over Canada.
Spain, widely regarded as the best team never to have won the Olympic gold, were woken from their slumber when Na Yubo gave China the lead in the sixth minute.
But veterans Xavier Ribas and Pol Amat scored once in either half to secure victory for their team.
Hendricks said the 8.30 am start was a joke and felt sorry for the Chinese team who have had to play two of their three matches so far at that "ghastly hour." "I would like to apologise to the Chinese public and spectators who had to come out at this terrible hour," the Spanish coach said.
"China is a strong team with fantastic players. They deserve to play at prime time, not at this ghastly hour of 8.30.
"Spain is a top-three country in the world and China is the host country. I do think we do deserve more respect." Games organisers have scheduled two matches in the morning session that starts at 8.30 am, but the remaining four games in the day do not begin till 6.pm to avoid the afternoon heat.
Goal-scorer Amat admitted the early start hampered his team.
"We did not play very well actually," he said. "I think China scored the first goal because they have got used to making a good start in the morning games.
"But the important thing is we won and got three points which puts us on top of the pool."
Spain zipped to the top of pool A with a 2-1 victory over hosts China and need a win and a draw in their remaining games against Germany and South Korea to make the last four.
The Netherlands, losing finalists at Athens four years ago after winning the previous two Olympics in Atlanta and Sydney, also remained unbeaten in pool B after a 4-2 success over Canada.
Spain, widely regarded as the best team never to have won the Olympic gold, were woken from their slumber when Na Yubo gave China the lead in the sixth minute.
But veterans Xavier Ribas and Pol Amat scored once in either half to secure victory for their team.
Hendricks said the 8.30 am start was a joke and felt sorry for the Chinese team who have had to play two of their three matches so far at that "ghastly hour." "I would like to apologise to the Chinese public and spectators who had to come out at this terrible hour," the Spanish coach said.
"China is a strong team with fantastic players. They deserve to play at prime time, not at this ghastly hour of 8.30.
"Spain is a top-three country in the world and China is the host country. I do think we do deserve more respect." Games organisers have scheduled two matches in the morning session that starts at 8.30 am, but the remaining four games in the day do not begin till 6.pm to avoid the afternoon heat.
Goal-scorer Amat admitted the early start hampered his team.
"We did not play very well actually," he said. "I think China scored the first goal because they have got used to making a good start in the morning games.
"But the important thing is we won and got three points which puts us on top of the pool."
The Dutch, meanwhile, rode on the penalty corner expertise of Taeke Taekema to outsmart Canada and record their third win in the competition.
Taekema scored twice, in the fourth and eighth minute, and added a third goal just before the interval to stamp his team’s superiority.
Roderick Weusthof increased the Dutch margin of victory as Ranjeev Deol and Ravinder Kahlon scored consolation goals for the Canadians.
Veteran Dutch midfielder Teun de Nooijer said winning the match was a bonus because it was not a satisfying performance by his team.
"We did not play as well as we can, but then we won and that is what counts," the four-time Olympian said.
"We have two tough matches coming up against Australia and Pakistan. You cannot afford to scale back your style during the Olympics, you have to be 100 per cent all the time."
Taekema scored twice, in the fourth and eighth minute, and added a third goal just before the interval to stamp his team’s superiority.
Roderick Weusthof increased the Dutch margin of victory as Ranjeev Deol and Ravinder Kahlon scored consolation goals for the Canadians.
Veteran Dutch midfielder Teun de Nooijer said winning the match was a bonus because it was not a satisfying performance by his team.
"We did not play as well as we can, but then we won and that is what counts," the four-time Olympian said.
"We have two tough matches coming up against Australia and Pakistan. You cannot afford to scale back your style during the Olympics, you have to be 100 per cent all the time."
