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The opening round of Group B which saw all the top teams getting wins to start their campaigns will return to action today with the top teams once again getting a chance to extend their lead before the showdown in the final stages of the game.
New Zealand vs South Africa
The first game of the day in men’s draw of the Hockey World Cup will see the Black Sticks, who are ranked 6th in the world, taking on South Africa who are ranked at the 12th spot in FIH rankings. New Zealand, who had to endure plenty of physical toil for a win against Korea, will be looking to put pressure on the favourites Germany and Netherlands with a win against South Africa.
On the other hand, South Africa, who were at the receiving end of a 4-0 drubbing against Olympic Champions Germany, would like to forget the past and start afresh against New Zealand tonight.
The Black Sticks will enter the game as the favourites with experienced campaigners like Phil Burrows and Marcus Child hoping to get them an easy win against RSA. All eyes will be on Black Sticks striker Steve Edwards, who scored the fastest goal in the 2014 World Cup with just 11 seconds on the clock.
South Africa once again will be expecting a torrid time against the fast paced and physically stronger New Zealand team. In spite of starting well against Olympic champions Germany, South Africa failed to take any advantage of their opportunities and the same mistake again will kick them out of the World Cup. They will rely on their penalty corner specialist Justin Reid Ross to give them goals and keep the New Zealand team at bay with his defensive skills.
Argentina vs Germany
The second game of the day will see Olympics champions Germany facing Argentina in a bid to secure a semi-final berth in the World Cup. Germany had an easy outing against South Africa with their creative play and possession wreaking havoc on the South African defence. While they are surely missing the services of 2012 player of the year Moritz Fuertse, in his absence players like Christopher Zeller, Florian Fuchs and Oliver Korn have taken on the responsibility of ensuring that Germany goes through the semi-finals stage easily.
If on one hand Germany seem to have it easy, it is another uphill task for Argentina after losing to Netherlands. Argentina put up their best performance against Netherlands but it was still not enough to stop the Dutch from winning the game. Argentina will once again look to Marias Rey who had a great game against Netherlands despite the defeat, to help them stay afloat. Another player who will have to take a major role is Lucas Vila. His performance against Germany will be crucial and he has the all the qualities that can help him cause problems to the German team.
The game is expected to end in favour of Germany and Argentina, who have never reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, will likely have to wait four more years for the same.
Netherlands vs Korea
The final game of the day will see the Hockey World League winners and Olympics silver medallists Netherlands take on World No. 7 Korea. Netherlands, who defeated Argentina in their opening game with score line of 3-1, will look to continue their climb to the top of Group B against Korea who lost their opening game against New Zealand.
The Koreans, who have a vastly experienced team, will be looking towards penalty corner specialist Jang Jong Hyun to give them the breakthrough in the game. Despite having great experience in the team, the Koreans have a fair idea of what awaits them when they face the Dutch tonight.
The Koreans will have to play packed defence while banking on counter attacks to score. They will have to once again play out of their skins like they did against New Zealand, and hope that Netherlands commit a mistake or two.
On the other hand Netherlands, or ‘Oranje’ as they are fondly called, will have the backing of a 15,000 strong crowd who will act as the team’s 12th man. With the likes of Jaap Stockmann along with Wouter Jolie and Robert Van Der Horst, Netherlands seem likely to have an easy 70 minutes of play. The whole team is in great form as was evident in the game against Argentina, and at the moment it seems quite impossible for them to lose against Korea.
