The opening day was day of goals. We relive those moments, as senior journalist B. David takes us to each one of them.

It’s a goal

First match – South Africa lost to Spain 2-4

Goal 1:

After a barren first quarter, South Africa held their nerves to hold a whiphand. They translated the advantage into a goal through Julian Hykes, who opened the account in the 12th Hero Honda World Cup in the 16th minute scoring from an acute angle beating the goalkeeper after a move on the right flank saw the last pass coming from Thomton Mcdade..

Goal 2:
South Africa’s joy was short-lived, as Spain neutralized within three minutes restoring parity in the 19th minute, when baby of the team, 20-year old Roc Oliva showed his presence of mind, tapping in a rebound from close quarters. The first shot was a quick, reverse hit by veteran skipper Pol Amot just inside the circle and it was blocked by South African goalkeeper Erasmus Pieterse, who could not prevent Oliva from sneaking into the right corner.

Goal 3:
The third goal of the first match, was the turning point of the match, and provided the lead for Spain. It was a gem of a goal in the 20th minute. A sliding slap shot with the left hand after entering the goalmouth from the left goalline by 25-year old Delas Miquel happened in a flash as he beat South African defender Gareth Carr and even the goalkeeper Pieterse was caught on the wrong foot despite the shot coming from an acute angle.

Goal 4: Equaliser by SA
Ian Haley scored the first Penalty Corner goal in the World Cup here, scoring the equalizer for South Africa in the 30th minute when he converted a rebound from the goalkeeper.

Goal 5:
However, midway through the second session, Spain gained the control once again and it was 34-year Xavier Ribas who hoisted the lead for the second time with a smart field goal in the 45th minute.

Goal 6:
With nine minutes to go for the hooter, Spain consolidated and put the issue beyond South Africa earning a penalty corner in the 16th minute. Alex Fabregas executed the push and Pau Quemada made no mistake with his drag flick scoring the match-winner to get the first victory for Spain.

Match No.2 – England upset strong contenders Australia 3-2

Goal 7
After wasting four short corners, Australia took the lead in the 23rd minute with their top player Jamie Dwyer converting a penalty stroke pushing low to the left of England goalkeeper James Fair, who made a valiant attempt but the ball caressed his kickers and sneaked in.

Goal 8:
England drew parity in the very next minute with Ashley Jackson converting a penalty corner after a clever dummy. The 24th minute drag-flick was sent into the roof of the net over the goalkeeper George Bazeley’s head.

Goal 9
Nine minutes later, England earned their third penalty corner the indirect variation earned them the lead two minutes before half-time when 26-year old James Tindall made it 2-1.

Goal 10
Tindell, with 128 caps under his belt till today, scored his second goal of the tournament when he knocked in a field goal to increase the lead for England in the 45th minute.

Goal 11
With six minutes to go, Australia, who were disparately trying to draw level, earned their consolation goal by converting an indirect penalty corner through the presence of mind of veteran Jamie Dwyer, who scored the second goal today. With many short corners yielding no result because of England’s solid PC defence, Aussues tried an indirect variation which was blocked and the second try too was moving out when an alert Jaimie Dwyer tapped in from the left.

Third and last match of Day 1: India drub Pakistan 4-1

Goal 12
India began with a bang and the fact that they were playing their arch-rivals in the very first match did not deter their star drag-flicker even in a charged atmosphere. Once acclaimed as the world’s best drag-flicker, Sohail Abbas returning after a `retirement’ had to watch the heroics of his rival with a stunned silence.

Sandeep Singh opened the account with a drag flick for India converting their second short corner in the 27th minute as his flick deflected off an advancing first runner and lost the force to help Pakistani goalkeeper Salman Akbar to block it. But the 28-year old senior goalie with 163-international match experience failed to prevent an alert Shivendra Singh from converting the rebound into a goal from hand-shaking distance near the right post as Shivender’s slap shot brooked no answer from Salman who failed to recover after the first stop.

Goal 13: India’s goal # 2
India’s second goal also came through the penalty corner and this time drag-flick artiste Sandeep Singh put his name in the scorers’ list with a powerful low drag flick to Pakistan custodian Salman’s right. The extended short corner was earned with only 5 seconds to go for the half-time and was upheld by the third umpire on an appeal from the players and was taken after the hooter with all 10 Indian players surrounding the circle.

Goal 14: India’s goal # 3
Two minutes after the breather, Indian star Prabhjot Singh scored the first field goal for India in this World Cup to make it 3-0.

Goal 15: India’s goal # 4
In the 56th minute India earned another short corner. Skipper Rajpal Singh Singh sent in a fast and perfect `push’ from the backline and Bharat Chikara set it up perfectly for Sandeep Singh, who had Diwakar Ram, the junior drag-flicker in the team, standing by to confuse the rivals. Sandeep took the flick and beat the rival goalkeeper with his speed as he sent in a grounder to the left of goalie Salman and skipper Zeeshan Ashraf manning the goalline behind the custodian, could only get his stick down as the ball zoomed past in a flash. Goal number two for Sandeep Singh.

Goal 16: Consolation goal for Pakistan
World’s acclaimed penalty corner specialist, Sohail Abbas, who was unlucky to hit the cross piece twice on the first day, made up with a brilliant flick displaying glimpses of his old form and sent in a disguised and powerful flick to beat Indian goalkeeper, Sreejesh, who had a wonderful time under the Indian bar today. Sreejesh is the first Keralite to don the Indian colours in the World Cup.