Spain outplayed Germany 3-0 and Australia defeated Netherlands 3-2 meaning both winners qualified for the Champions Trophy final yesterday. Australia had a chance to make the final if either Spain or Australia lost as Argentina shares 10 points with Spain and Australia but has a poorer goal difference and therefore plays Netherlands for third place.
Argentina’s best result in their three previous Champions Trophy appearances was fifth place in 1987 and 2003. Spain started impressively, scoring 12 seconds after the start as Santiago Freixa passed to defender Ramon Alegre running through on the right who drove to the left post where Pol Amat crashed a backstick deflection into the net.
“Spain coach Maurits Hendriks admitted to being surprised by the goal. It was not a set move we practice but one worked out by the players so it surprised me when I saw it,” Hendriks said. “We have the creativity in the team to make this type of move.”
Spain maintained a high tempo to run Germany around as Sebastian Biederlack was under suspension for the match and Germany played with one less player. David Alegre scored a field goal and Santiago Freixa converted Spain’s third penalty corner, getting a deflection into goal off the stick of Germany’s runner to seal the match. Hendriks praised his team’s effort.
“It was an all-round solid performance from the first moment,” Hendriks said.
Germany coach Markus Weise was dejected following the loss.
“I’m disappointed and we lack energy right now,” Weise said.
Netherlands 3-2 loss to Australia was crafted by Jamie Dwyer and Eddie Ockenden, assisted by the pressure of expectations of the capacity crowd expecting nothing less than a Netherlands win. Netherlands were unwilling to take risks to win. Netherlands Roderick Weusthof drilled Netherlands second penalty corner into Australia goalkeeper Stephen Lambert and the rebound fell to Geert-Jan Derikx at the left post to make an easy push into goal behind Lambert.
For 10 minutes from the middle of the first half Australia camped in Netherlands defensive quarter, pressuring for the equalizer which finally came when Grant Schubert punished a defensive error by Robert van der Horst and drove into the top of goal from the left with 11 seconds to play before the break. Australia continued to pressure Netherlands in the second half, gaining several shots on goal.
Netherlands captain Jeroen Delmee passed over 40m to Jeroen Hertzberger who deflected high into goal to bring the Rotterdam crowd to its feet.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
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