Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Spain closer to second round

SPAIN took another step towards the second round when they beat England 2-1 in Group C at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Baru.
The European champions now have six points from two wins, and play South Korea before wrapping their fixtures against Malaysia.
The Spanish goals were scored by Salvador Piera (13th) and Xavier Lleonart (35th) while England replied through Alex Edmunston in the 67th minute.
Meanwhile, in Group A defending champions Argentina were slow to start, but after scoring heir first goal, they found they groove and beat Belgium 3-0.
Argentina have six points from two matches, and need only one more win against Pakistan or Egypt to qualify or the second round.
Yesterday, Augistin Mazzilli (40th) and a brace from Alan Gabriel (53rd, 69th) handed Argentina full points.
In Group D, India and New Zealand played to a 2-2 draw. India got their goals off Pramod Kumar (36th) and Diwakar Ram (13th), while the Kiwi scorers were Simon Child (10th) and Marcus Child (32nd).
Pablo Lombi, who was also the coach when Argentina won the junior World Cup in 2005 in Rotterdam, said his team is on the right track to play in the second round.
"However, we are taking one match at a time, and I believe Pakistan (their next opponents) is a very strong team and we will be under pressure in that game," said Lombi.
According to Lombi, Argentina have been training for the last two years for this tournament, but their last tournament match was in December.
"After that, we only trained, and we last played Pakistan in 2005, so we do not know what to expect," said Lombi.
Meanwhile, South Korean goalkeeper Kang Hyun Woo has been quarantined at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru as a suspect for H1N1 fever. He did not play against Malaysia on Monday.
Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) secretary Hashim Yusof said: "He came down with high fever and was quarantined as a precautionary measure. We have taken measures to ensure that other players are not afected."