Day 7 of the Samsung Champions Trophy in Kuala Lumpur saw Spain inflict a heavy defeat on Malaysia, Great Britain hold Korea to a draw, the Netherlands secure a comfortable win against Pakistan, and Australia achieve the same in their encounter with Germany.
Spain started off the day against the hosts, but faced a laborious start against a Malaysian side that was constantly looking to get the quick break and got dangerous several times on counterattacks. The Spaniards struggled for twenty minutes before a sudden flurry of goals ended the drought, and Spain scored 4 goals between the 20th and the 26th minute.
When the match re-started, Malaysia quickly netted twice in the space of three minutes and it seemed like S├╝pain had lost their momentum, but then they found back onto the path to victory, replying with a second goal from David Alegre and a penalty corner conversion by Xavi Ribas. Late in the match, Edu Arbos piled on Spain┬┤s 7th, and the Iberians had thus done their part, temporarily shooting up to second place in the standings, and retreated hoping for Korea, the Netherlands, or Australia to slip up to keep them in the top four of the event.
Parallely, Great Britain played Korea on the other field. Slow to develop any rhythm, the game saw the Brits take an early lead as Matt Daly, left alone at the top of the circle, fired a shot past Dong Sik Ko. Jason Lee┬┤s team played their best match in the tournament so far, and showed more initiative and motivation than their Korean opponents who could have secured a berth in the final with a win.
Britain held on and fought tooth and nail to hold on to their lead, until Jong Ho Seo dampened their enthusiasm with the equalizer in the 45th minute. They were not prepared to give up on the match just yet however, and kept pushing to regain the lead. Finally, they succeeded when Richard Mantell made good use of a penalty corner with nine minutes to go. The Asians reacted within less than a minute however, and levelled the scores again with a Nam Yong Lee goal.
As the clock wound down, Korea developed a sense of urgency remarkably absent for a large part of the match, and aggressively tried to get in the winning goal that would see them through to the final, but it was too little too late, and the gutsy performance from Great Britain allowed them to steal a point off the superior Korean side.
The day┬┤s second match on the main pitch had the Netherlands take on Pakistan. The Dutch had a firm grip on the proceedings today, controlling play without much effort. The Greenshirts looked more creative and more dangerous than Oranje in the first half, but faded in the second half, no longer offering much resistance. The Netherlands had scores of opportunities throughout the match and could easily have pushed the scoreline higher but decided to not overexert themselves, and reeled the match off without great enthusiasm.
First getting on the scoreboard in the 15th minute when Taeke Taekema sunk a penalty corner, the Dutch had to accept an immediate reply from Pakistan as Waqas Sharif netted the equalizer, but they went ahead again shortly before half-time through a beautiful Teun de Nooijer goal. In the second half, Taeke Taekema did all the scoring for Holland, adding a second penalty corner goal and converting a penalty stroke that had been fiercely disputed by Pakistan to no avail. Taekema thus took his tournament total to five goals, and gave the Dutch exactly the scoreline they needed to overtake Korea and temporarily claim second place, keeping alive their hopes for the final.
In the last match of pool play in Malaysia, table leaders Germany faced fifth-ranked Australia. With Germany already a certain finalist, Australia could either win the game and reach the final, or not win and end up in the 5th/6th match, while Germany theoretically had the possibility to choose their opponent in tomorrow┬┤s final: defeat would pair them with Australia tomorrow, while a draw or a win would have them facing the Dutch. Even before the match, this was a much discussed fact, and many voices voices predicted victory for the Kookaburras.
Fuelling the rumors, Germany put forward a listless and uninspired performance, and in the end found the Aussies drubbing them 5-0. In an intense first half without real highlights, the two teams neutralized each other effectively, but Australia eventually gained the upper hand with a quick double hit through Russell Ford and Travis Brooks, taking them to a two goal half-time lead.
Three minutes into the second half, Eddie Ockenden added Australia┬┤s with a spectacular dive to deflect a long hit into the circle, and the intense pace of the match started to decline but saw the game open up, the teams allowing each other more space to play and build. In regular intervals, Australia added more goals at a leisurely pace. Liam de Young took advantage of the rebound off a penalty corner save, and Luke Doerner converted another penalty corner for the clear final result.
Thus, the Samsung Champions Trophy Kuala Lumpur 2007 ends tomorrow with the play-off for 7th/8th place between Pakistan and Malaysia, the match for 5th/6th place between Spain and Great Britain, the bronze medal match between Korea and the Netherlands, and the 2007 Champions Trophy final between World Champions Germany and Olympic Champions Australia.
Apart from the medal matches, the play-off for 5th/6th place between Spain and Great Britain carries special weight, as it will determine the last participant in next year┬┤s edition of the Champions Trophy: the winner of the match will join Germany, Australia, Korea, the Netherlands, and Argentina in Rotterdam in June 2008.
