Hockey World Cup 2018, Semifinal 2: 3 Reasons Why Netherlands beat Australia

The Dutch edged the World No.1 team in the shootout 
The Dutch edged the World No.1 team in the shootout 

Netherlands edged Australia 4-3 in the penalty shootout after drawing 2-2 to progress to the World Cup final.

Unsurprisingly, both the coaches set up their teams with the intent of attacking from the word 'go'. While Australia were presented with a few opportunities in the first five minutes, they failed to convert any of them.

In the ninth minute, Glenn Schuurman put the Oranje ahead as he deflected a cross from Jeroen Hertzberger in the back of the net.

Five minutes into the second quarter, Seve Van Ass doubled his side's lead via a lucky deflection from an Australian defender.

At the end of the third quarter, Australia sighed with relief as they scored off a penalty corner to pull one back. In the dying moments, the Kookaburras equalized with a beautiful counter attack that just involved a total of six touches to take the match to a shootout.

The Dutch edged the World No.1 team in the shootout as Daniele Beale missed the decisive shot in sudden death after scoring earlier in the shootout.

The Dutch goalkeeper, Pirmin Blaak was adjudged the man of the match for making a number of important saves, both, in open play and in the shootout as well.

On Sunday, Netherlands play in their 7th World Cup final and would be looking to win it for a record-equaling 4th time against neighbors Belgium who have qualified for a World Cup final for the first time.

Let's look at 3 reasons why Netherlands won against the mighty Australians.


#3 The Netherlands were clinical in attack

The Dutch players were much faster on the break and much more clinical when it came to finding the back of the net
The Dutch players were much faster on the break and much more clinical when it came to finding the back of the net

Australia had more possession, more shots, more shots on target, more turnovers but Netherlands scored two goals in the first 20 minutes of the match while Colin Batch's men weren't able to find the back of the net till the end of the third quarter.

The Dutch players were much faster on the break and much more clinical when it came to finding the back of the net.

In the first goal, it looked like Hertzberger just walked past three or four Australian defenders as he went to the byline and crossed the ball for Schuurman to lead the Aussies.

The story in the second goal was similar as no defender in yellow was able to knick the ball off Van Ass who got lucky and got the goal at the end of a quick move.

#2 Dutch midfield too strong for Australia

The Netherlands' midfield three were playing a simple yet efficient game
The Netherlands' midfield three were playing a simple yet efficient game

Max Caldas set up his team in a simple 4-3-3 as compared to the 2-5-3 formation used by Batch.

The Netherlands' midfield three were playing a simple yet efficient game as they stopped many Australian attacks from building in their infancy by intercepting and man-marking.

The Oranje also passed the ball quickly with a better tempo as compared to the Australians which reflected on the scoreline at halftime as well.

The Netherlands while trailed in possession and shots taken but had 17 successful tackles compared to Australia's 5 at halftime. Most of these can be attributed to the hard-working Dutch midfield players.

#1 Pirmin Blaak had the game of his life

If it were not for Pirmin Blaak, Australia would have restored parity within the first half and won the match with those late goals
If it were not for Pirmin Blaak, Australia would have restored parity within the first half and won the match with those late goals

Batch's men had 11 shots in the whole match, 10 of which were on target. If it were not for Pirmin Blaak, Australia would have restored parity within the first half and won the match with those late goals.

Blaak made a number of crucial saves including a double save in the 20th minute when he saved a shot from Trent Mitton and then from Timothy Brand two seconds later.

Five minutes later, the 30-year-old padded away a powerful shot to ensure his side's two-goal lead didn't reduce to one.

With less than three minutes to go on the clock, Australians took a penalty corner which ended up with Blake Govers whose well-executed shot was brilliantly kept out by the Dutch No.1.

Blaak was also excellent in the shootout as he allowed only three out of the six opportunities past him.


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Edited by Alan John