Following 12 days of high quality, exciting hockey, the BDO FIH World Cup Final is finally upon us, with host nation Argentina and reigning World and Olympic champions The Netherlands preparing to do battle. So, will Luciana AYMAR's Las Leonas delight the home crowd by crushing the mighty Dutch, or with Naomi van AS and company deny them a fairytale ending? Sports statistics experts Infostrada give us some background information about both teams.
Match 38 - Final 1-2: Netherlands v Argentina (Saturday 11 Sep)
Head-to-heads
Netherlands have won 3 of the previous 6 World Cup encounters with Argentina. The other three were drawn but saw Argentina progress on penalty strokes twice.
> The first World Cup final in 1974 saw Netherland beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time.
> In the 1976 semi-final Argentina beat Netherlands 4-3 on penalty strokes after a 0-0 draw.
> In the 2002 final Argentina beat the Dutch again 4-3 on penalty strokes after a 1-1 draw.
> Four years ago at the 2006 World Cup Holland beat Las Leonas 3-1 in the semi-finals.
> In 1978 The Dutch beat Argentina 2-1 in a pool match and in 1998 they negotiated a 2-2 draw.
> At the 2010 Champions Trophy Argentina beat Holland twice; 4-2 in the pool match and 4-2 in the final.
> Goals in the 2010 CT pool match were scored by: Noel Barrionuevo (PC), Delfia Merino, Carla Rebecchi, Rosario Luchetti (ARG) and Marilyn Agliotti, Maartje Paumen (PC) (NED).
> Goals in the 2010 CT final were scored by; Noel Barrionuevo (3 PC), Carla Rebecchi (ARG), Kelly Jonker and Maartje Goderie (NED).
> The last time the Netherland beat Argentina was in the semi-finals of the 2008 Olympics.
Netherlands Facts
> This will be the 10th World Cup final for the Dutch. They have played in nine of 11 previous WC finals.
> The Dutch have won the World Cup six times (1974, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1990 and 2006). Three times they had to settle for silver (1981, 1998 and 2002).
> The Dutch only missed out in the World Cup final in 1976 (bronze) and 1994 (sixth).
> Netherlands have won a medal at each major tournament (OG, WC and CT) since finishing sixth at the 1994 World Cup.
> The Dutch have converted 10 of 31 penalty corners at Rosario 2010 (32%).
> The Netherlands are the top scoring team at Rosario 2010 on 26 goals (15 FG, 10 PC, 1 PS).
> Netherlands are reigning World, Olympic and European Champions.
> Netherlands are ranked 1st at the ABN AMRO World Ranking.
> Minke Smeets (1Gold - 2 Silvers) chases a fourth World Cup medal. She can become the first since Elsemieke Hillen and Sandra le Poole in 1986 to achieve this feat. Anneke and Toos Bax won their fourth WC medal in 1981.
> Minke Smeets, Janneke Schopman, Kim Lammers, Ellen Hoog, Maartje Goderie, Maartje Paumen, Naomi van As, Sophie Polkamp and Wieke Dijkstra all aim for a second World Cup gold medal.
> The competition record is five medals by Lisette Sevens (3G - 1S - 1B) in the 1970's and 1980's.
> At age 33, captain Janneke Schopman is the oldest squad member. She will retire from after the World Cup.
> Goalkeeper Joyce Sombroek celebrated her 20th birthday on the day before the final.
Argentina Facts
> Argentina have reached the World Cup final for the fifth time and for the first time since 2002 when they won the World title.
> Only The Netherlands have collected more World Cup final berths (10) then Argentina (5).
> Argentina have opened the score in all 6 of their matches at Rosario 2010. Netherlands have scored the opening goal in 3 of their 6 matches.
> Argentina have converted 5 of 35 penalty corners at Rosario 2010 (17%).
> Las Leonas have only conceded 3 goals in 6 matches at Rosario 2010.
> Luciana Aymar is on 9 World Cup career goals. Luciana Aymar (ARG) and Minke Smeets (NED) both play in their 30th WC match today.
> Argentina have won medals in the last 2 World Cups, claiming gold in 2002 and bronze in 2006.
> In the 1970's Argentina won medals in three successive World Cup tournaments (silver in 1974, 1976 and bronze in 1978).
> Argentina aim to become the third hosts to win the World Cup, joining West Germany in 1976 in Berlin and the Netherlands in 1986 in Amstelveen.
> Argentina have won three of the last four major FIH tournaments, winning all three Champions Trophies since 2008 and only missing out on the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games (bronze).
> Argentina are ranked second at the ABN AMRO World Ranking.
> At an average age of 27 years Argentina are the oldest squad at the BDO FIH World Cup 2010.
> Luciana Aymar, Marine Russo, Agustina Soledad Garcia and Claudia Burkart all chase at third World Cup medal adding to their gold (2002) and bronze (2006).
The final takes place at 1930hrs (local time - GMT -3), and is available to watch free of charge on through the LAOLA 1 Live stream - http://www.laola1.tv/en/int/worldhockey/video/206--.html. The Bronze medal match is also being shown, with that game taking place at 16.30. For more information on the tournament, please visit the FIH microsite: http://www.bdofihworldcup2010.sportcentric.com/
