From: dam@fwi.uva.nl (Joris van Dam)
Subject: third round results & comments
Organization: FWI, University of Amsterdam
Distribution: rec.sport.hockey.field
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 08:45:30 GMT

Alas, Dutch television decided not to broadcast too much hockey, but this is
what I managed to pick up:

Pakistan - Unified team : 6 - 2
Puts Pakistan in a comfortable position, they can afford to lose to either
Holland or Spain, to which should not make any difference as Germany and
Australia are both playing very well. The Holland camp is really psyched up
for their match against Pakistan. Holland will probably play very offensive,
since their defence sucks and they would try hard to get as much corners as
they possibly can. We all know how good te Pakistan offence can be, so this
should make an interesting match indeed.

Spain - Malaysia : 5 - 2
Good result for Spain. They still have a chance, albeit a small one. I dislike
the Spanish cold war tactics and they do not deserve to be in the semi finals.

Netherlands - New Zeeland : 4 - 3
An absolute THRILLER. Holland started with their usual arrogance (esp. Boven-
lander). Bovenlander ("Floppy") played a cross through his own circle which 
could not be picked up correctly by van Eden. New Zeeland lead 1 - 0. A few
minutes later, NZ get a PC. A weak shot right through the middle could not but
be deflected by Leistra (Major error) : NZ lead 2-0. Holland get their act
together and go back to basics. Hard work, esp by Diepenveen, earns them a PC
in the 28th minute. Bovenlander converts, hitting the ball in the NZ's left 
corner; it was just too hard to be stopped.
Jorritsma probably gave 'm hell during intermission, cause in the second half,\
Holland played much better. Very organized, concentrated, arrogance was gone. 
This resulted in a few good opportunities that possibly surprised the Dutch as
they could not convert. Another PC was stopped by a NZ' foot and Delissen scored
a penalty flick, beautifully wrongfooting the not too good NZ goalie. Another
PC saw a first variant on the Dutch side, but a well known one : the stopper
immediately passed the ball on to Weterings, standing to Bovenlanders left.
Weterings shot was right through the middle; however the NZ goalie forgot to 
go down and saw (did he ?) the ball go between his legs (position 5 in ice 
hockey). Hollands fourth goal was a major NZ error. A pass from NZ's right
flank was deflected by the goalie, who attempted to kick the ball out of the
D at once, standing at the first post. This is rather difficult when a ball has 
such high speed. Indeed, the ball curved on to the penalty 'spot' where van den
Honert scored his first. In the final minute, some NZ attacker got the ball
on top of the D, quickly turned around (which is allowed nowadays) and
surprised both Bovenlander and Leistra, again position 5.
After the match, Jorritsma stated he was very pleased with the Dutch performance
I was not, as I expected an easy win. He seemed most pleased with the way
the Dutch came back after a 2 - 0 disadvantage and played very good indeed
in the second half. With this, I have to agree. The only question is if
the Dutch can keep up this performance, their defence still sucks.
Again, Spain was not the best of hosts. After a few complains that the pitch
was too dry and dangerous for the players, they totally submerged the entire
field. The D was totally under water. It was a disaster. (This is the reason
for the early NZ goal. Bovnelander was too nervous to notice that even his
pass would considerably slow down in the D). If such conditions would have been
due to natural circumstances, play would definitely have been postponed.
Fortunately, Jorritsma got the team to their senses during intermission and
the Dutch played very concentrated and basic in the second half/Looking forward
to Holland - Pakistan (maybe we'll even get a full report on Dutch TV ! )

Australia - Germany : 1 - 1
Australia took a 1 - 0 lead and had the best of the game in the beginning. 
Unfortunately, the Germans came back very strong with a rather simple tactic,
having their right defender put constant pressure on the Australian defence. 
Fischer equalized in the 60th minute. He shot a PC in the Australina left corner.
Again, it was just too hard to be stopped. Interesting how the Australian "line
stopper" does not stand on the line with PC'S - as is the case with most
other teams - but standst right next to his goalie. At Fischer's ("Kalle")
shot, the goalie stretched and seemed to disturb he linestopper. Strange
tactics. The game got rather physical towards the end, with Kalle
sent off for 9 minutes, and some Australian for the remaining 5. Nasty fouls.
There is no doubt Germany and Australia will make the semi finals. Hopefully,
they will be stopped there.

GB - India : 3 - 1
Has been extebnsively discussed on the net.

ARG - Egypt : 1 - 0

Joris