WCH: Germany-Australia to clash in final
Olympic champions Germany and Australia will clash in the final of the 12th men's hockey World Cup after contrasting victories in the semi-finals at the Major Dhyan Chand National stadium in Delhi on Thursday.
While Germany, the defending champions, stayed on course for a historic hat-trick of World Cup crowns with a 4-1 victory over England in the first semi-final, the Aussies, who lost to the Germans in the last two editions of hockey's showpiece event, got the better of The Netherlands 2-1 in a closely-contested match later.
Australia led 2-0 through goals from Luke Doerner (27th minute) and Glenn Turner (55th minute) before the Dutch pulled one back in the 58th minute through a Taeke Taekema penalty stroke goal that swelled his goal tally to seven and made him the highest scorer in the tournament. It was also his 20th goal in World Cups.
Germany, who won the crown in 2002 and 2006, were the dominant side in the clash of European powerhouses and made England play the catch-up game by taking a 3-1 lead by half-time.
For the Germans, unbeaten thus far in the tournament, Jean Marco Montag (sixth minute), Oliver Korn (11th), Martin Haner (31st) and Linus Butt (60th) were on target, while European champions England got their only goal through Richard Smith in the 19th minute.
The humiliating 12th place finish in the World Cup on Thursday threw Pakistan hockey in turmoil as the entire 18-member team announced collective retirement from international hockey after the sacking of the selectors and the team management by the national federation.
Pakistan, for the first time, finished last in the World Cup history after losing the classification match to Canada.
The collective decision of the players came hours after the Pakistan Hockey Federation cracked whip on its officials.
“Pakista Hockey team has announced retirement from international hockey after the poor performance in the World Cup. Captain Zeeshan Ashraf said that all the 18 players accepted the defeat in the event and decided to retire from international hockey,” a PHF statement said.
