Reserve Nam Hyun-woo scored three goals in seven minutes from penalty corners to help South Korea overcome a 5-1 deficit and draw 5-5 with Spain on Thursday at the Champions Trophy men’s field hockey tournament.
The Netherlands held on for a 3-2 win over England. Robbert Kemperman scored in the fourth minute and again in the 49th to give the Dutch a 3-1 lead before Richard Smith’s goal 10 minutes later pulled England back to within one goal.
Undefeated Australia was to play Germany later Thursday, and a win by the defending champion and hosts would ensure them a place in Sunday’s gold medal final.
Nam scored in the 58th, 61st and 65th minutes, then You Hyo-sik added the equalizer for South Korea with three minutes remaining.
“We weren’t preparing our penalty corners much for the game against Spain,” Nam said of his hat trick. “For the goals I scored today, I just got down and hit the ball really hard.” South Korean coach Shin Seok-kyo said his team’s physical conditioning reaped reward.
“Traditionally Korea is a team that focuses on fitness levels,” Shin said. “Those last 12 minutes, players showed their hard training and good fitness levels pay off.” Pau Quemada scored three times for Spain, including a 53rd-minute goal that gave his side its four-goal advantage.
Spain’s Xavi Ribas said his team thought it had the match won.
“We started really fast,” Ribas said. “And went really hard early on. But then we relaxed in the second half.
“When it was 4-1 at halftime, we thought it was good enough. But it wasn’t to be. We’re very disappointed. We were playing well before the tournament and two draws simply isn’t good enough.” England’s loss – its third along with a draw – and Spain’s draw meant the two teams will play for fifth place on Sunday, regardless of the results of their final round-robin matches Saturday.