The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Australia meets Holland in final

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 08, 2006
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Australia meets Holland in final

MADRID : Australia will play The Netherlands in the final of the women's hockey World Cup after beating Spain 1-0 on a golden goal.

Top-ranked Netherlands reached its third straight Cup final by ousting defending champion Argentina 3-1 in the other semifinal.

Suzie Faulkner redirected Angie Skirving's disputed penalty corner in the second minute of extra time to lead 2000 Olympic champion Australia to its first World Cup final since its 1998 title.

Bad luck

``Unfortunately, some bad luck kept us from getting to the final.''

The first few moments of the Holland-Argentina contest were messy, with each team trying to test the strength of its opponent. Slowly, however, Holland took control.

After a fault at the 22-yard line, Silvia Karres stuck a ball deep into the Argentine net. The early goal did not yet reflect the tone of the game. Argentina applied pressure, resorting to experienced players Aymar and Garcia. But their attacking plays did not create real danger for the Dutch.

In the 45th minute, the Dutch took advantages of a melee and Van Heenhuizen scored the second goal.

In the 60th minute Kim Lammers delivered the semifinal's coup-de-grace, when, unmarked, she shot a goal under Antoniska. Argentina scored in the 64th minute through Maria de la Paz Hernandez. — Agencies

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