Hockey World Cup 2018, Australia vs Netherlands: 3 Standout players from Semi-final 2

#1 Pirmin Blaak (Netherlands)

Blaak was rightfully adjudged as the Man Of The Match

The Dutch goalie, Pirmin Blaak, looked a bit jittery in the game against India. But Blaak brought out his ‘A’ game against the reigning World Champions.

Had it not been for his brilliance between the posts, Australia would have won the game by a hefty margin.

First, he saved a penalty corner in the 19th minute of the game with a strong left hand. Later on, Blaak made a brilliant triple save in the 26th minute with Timothy Brand and Tim Howard failing to beat the Dutchman.

In the final stages of the game, Blaak first denied Flynn Ogilvie at point blank and then stopped a fierce flick from Blake Govers with just two minutes left on the clock.

He was a bit unlucky to concede the equalizer in the dying seconds of the game courtesy an unfortunate deflection of Glenn Schuurman.

However, Blaak didn’t let the disappointment of a late equalizer bother him as he produced a brilliant save in the sudden death to deny Daniel Beale and book a place for the Dutch in the final of the World Cup.

He was rightly declared the Man of the Match for his stupendous performance.

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