CHAMPIONS TROPHY for MEN 2009 Updates from Official Sources

Day 5: Tuesday the 5th December 2009

England 3 Korea 2
Australia 10 Spain 3
The Netherlands 4 Germany 3

Germany reached the finals of the Champions Trophy despite a 3-4 defeat against The Netherlands. They will play Australia on Sunday while the Dutch will take on the surprise package of the tournament, Korea, for the bronze medal.

Taeke Taekema scored 1 today to lift his tournament total to four goals and took lead for his team in the 4th minute.

Within the next ten minutes, Germany made it 2-1 in their favor as Matthias Witthaus and Florian Fuchs scored once each but well before the half time, Rob Reckers’ effort made it 2-2.

2 minutes into the second half, the Dutch skipper Teun De Nooijer took lead, which was consolidated by Reckers in the 41st minute.

Florian Fuchs scored again for the World Champions in the 45th minute, but that was it for them in this match as the both teams failed to score in remaining 25 minutes and The Netherlands won 4-3.

Match 14: Australia v Spain – 10:3

The host Australians produced a great show to thrash Spain 10-3, and hence booked a place in the Champion Trophy’s final.

Australian legend Jamie DWYER was in sensational form , scoring once and contributing with a number of assists.

Grant Schubert, who is having an outstanding tournament, scored from close range despite an unsuccessful video referral from Spain.

Spain leveled the score-line soon with Edi TUBAU scoring with a reverse stick shot. Spain played well and took the lead when Pol Amat, a WorldHockey Player of the Year nominee, scored a sensational goal with his solo effort.

But just before the half time, Luke Doerner’s penalty corner conversion made it 2-2 just before the half-time.

Second half saw goals raining from the host side. Glenn Turner & Fergus Kavanagh scored twice each while the skipper Dwyer, Grant Schubert, Edward Ockenden, Luke Doerner netted once each.

Match 13: England v Korea- 4:2

England won its first match of the tournament, beating South Korea 4-2. This means that Korea are no more in contention for the gold.

England’s first goal came in the 24th minute as a penalty corner rebound. Alastair Wilson opened the scoring for England, when he scored on a rebound off South Korea goalkeeper Lee Myung-ho from Ashley Jackson’s penalty corner drag-flick.

But just 10 minutes later, Korea made it 1-1 as Yoon Sung-hoon beat England goalkeeper Nick Brothers.

England fought back in the second half and Richard Alexander scored his team’s second goal in the 41st minute.

9 minutes later, Nick Catlin finished off a break by Jackson to Jonty Clarke to stretch his team’s advantage to two goals.

In the 58th minute, Korea’s Lee Nam-yong effort made it 3-2 and gave some oxygen to their chances of going into the finals.

But Mantell sealed the match with his last minute penalty corner, finishing the rebound off Lee Myung-ho.

It was England’s first win in the Champions Trophy since their 4-3 victory over South Korea in 2001.

CHAMPIONS TROPHY for MEN 2009 Updates from Official Sources

Day 3: Tuesday the 1st December 2009

Germany 5 Spain 4
Korea 2 Dutch 1
Australia 2 England 1

Germany striker Matthias Witthaus produced a late winner to defeat Spain 5:4 in the first match day 3 at the ABN AMRO Champions Trophy in Melbourne Australia.

The result keeps alive Germany’s chances of reaching next Sunday’s tournament final.

Germany burst into life at the start of the first quarter, taking the lead in the second minute of the game. The scorer was Benjamin WESS, who had missed Germany’s loss to Korea due to suspension

Four minutes later Germany were even further ahead when Jan-Marco Montag continued his excellent penalty corner form with a flick that found its way just inside the left post of the Spanish goal.

Spain pulled a goal back when Eduard Arbos finished off a slick passing move from close range.

However, Germany re-established the two goal advantage when 18-year-old Florian Fuchs made a big name for himself with a deft deflection past Spanish keeper Francisco Cortes.

Spain bounced back yet again when veteran defender Xavi Ribas found the bottom left corner with a penalty corner, ensuring that his team were still very much in the mix at half time.

Things became even more interesting just after half time when the mercurial Edi Tubau hit a stunning reverse stick strike past Germany keeper Max Weinhold from the tightest of angles to level the scores.

The momentum was with the Spaniards, and it was they who scored again when striker Pau Quemada found the corner with just the keeper to beat to make the score 4-3.

However, Germany fought back and it was that man Florian Fuchs who got on the score-sheet again with powerful reverse stick strike that Cortes touched but could not keep out of his net.

The game’s defining moment came in the final minute of the match, when Matthias Witthaus scored from close range only for it to be immediately ruled out by umpire Hamish Jamson. Germany appealed to the video umpire who confirmed the goal, much to the disappointment of the Spain players. Germany had won the match, keeping themselves in contention to reach Sunday’s tournament final.

Korea 2 Dutch 1

A late strike from Seo Jong Ho gave Korea a stunning 1:2 victory over The Netherlands in the second match of Day 3 in Melbourne.

The Netherlands needed just 11 minutes to open the scoring, and it was Roderick Weusthof who got his name on the score-sheet, finishing off a neat passing move for the Europeans.

The Netherlands were seemingly in control, but Korea always looked dangerous going forward and capable of grabbing an equalizer. It eventually came in the 26th minute when Hong Eun Seong saw his deflected effort fly into the Dutch net.

Teun De Nooijer’s influence on the game began to increase in the second period, but still no goal arrived for the Dutch as efforts from the captain as well as Taeke Taekama were blocked by the Korea defence.

The winning goal for Korea arrived with just over a minute of the match remaining, with Seo’s strike breaking Dutch hearts. Korea are looking like a completely different team to the one that lost heavily against Australia on Day 1, and may well be the surprise package of this tournament.

1.12.2009
Australia collected their third straight win at Melbourne 2009,beating England 2-1

Australia have now won their last six CT matches and are unbeaten in their last seven, since going down 2-1 against Argentina at Rotterdam 2008.

Des Abbott scored the winning goal for Australia today. It marked his second goal at Melbourne 2009 and his third in CT history.

Grant Schubert climbed to the top of the goal scorer table netting his fourth goal of the tournament. He now shares the top spot with Germany’s Jan-Marco Montag and Spain’s Xavier Ribas.

Iain Mackay (ENG) scored his first CT goal in only his second CT match to give England a 1-0 lead.

Defending champions Australia are the top scoring team so far at Melbourne 2009 with 13 goals: 10 field goals, 4 penalty corner goals and1 penalty stroke goal.

30.11.2009
Korea produced a superb performance to defeat World and Olympic Champions Germany in the first match of the day here in Melbourne. Germany’s Matthias WITTHAUS scored a sensational goal on his 300th appearance for Germany but it was not enough to stop his team falling to defeat against the Koreans.

Korea dominated the early stages of the match and deservedly took the lead through YOU Hyo Sik, whose attempted pass along in the circle found its way into the net via a the stick of a German defender. Korea continued to pressurize the Germany defence, but goalkeeper Tim JESSULAT was in inspired form to keep his team in the match. Germany fought their way back into the game and surely would have leveled were it not for a number if magnificent saves from LEE Myung Ho. Eventually, Germany found an equalizer and – fittingly – it was Matthias WITHAUS who celebrated his 300th cap with a brilliant solo effort that went into the goal via the crossbar.
The match was evenly poised at half time, but it seemed that Germany would emerge triumphant in the contest when Jan-Marco MONTAG sent a penalty corner flick into the goal to give Germany a 1-2 lead. However, SEO Jong Ho grabbed an equalizer before NAM Hyun Woo fired in with a brilliant penalty corner. 3-2 soon became 4-2 when LEE Nam Jong scored a penalty stroke, and a minute later SEO Jong Ho scored to all but seal the points with six minutes remaining. Germany’s Jan-Marco Montag collected his second goal of the game in the final minute to make the score 5-3, but it was too little too late for the Germans who suffered their first defeat of the tournament.

Match 5: Netherlands v Australia – 2:7 (1:5)

Australia were in sparkling form as they recorded a stunning 2-7 triumph over The Netherlands. Veteran Kookaburras forward Grant Shubert scored a first half hat-trick as Australia surged into a 1-5 half time lead that always looked too big a hurdle for the Dutch to overcome.

Dutchman Taeke TAEKEMA extended his lead as the all time top goal scorer in the Champions Trophy when he opened the scoring with a typically powerful penalty corner, earned by the evergreen Teun DE NOOIJER. That goal arrived with less than four minutes played, but it did not take long for Australia to find an equaliser thanks to Grant SCHUBERT’s first goal of the day courtesy of a penalty stroke after eight minutes. Australia took the lead just over ten minutes later through Glenn TURNER, and the Kookaburras extended their advantage when Brent DANCER fired a penalty corner into the goal just moments later. Australia were the dominant force as half time neared, and it was no surprise when Grant SCHUBERT made the score 1-4 when he deflected in a visionary reverse stick pass from Rob HAMMOND. Just before the break a defensive error from Taeke TAEKEMA was ruthlessly punished by the in-form SCHUBERT, who robbed the ball from the star Dutchman and fired into the goal from the left of the circle.

There were fewer goals in the second period but the match was no less entertaining. Luke DOERNER made the score 1-6 with a fast, low penalty corner before Jamie DWYER scored the goal of the match with a spectacular reverse stick strike from the tightest of angles that clipped the inside of the left post before hitting the back of the net. Robert KEMPERMAN claimed a late consolation, but the result was never in doubt. Australia must surely be favourites to win the Champions Trophy here in Melbourne, something that would delight the huge number of supporters who are making their way daily to the State Hockey Centre to watch their team in action.

Match 6: England v Spain – 3:3 (2:2)

Xavi RIBAS scored twice but Spain were made to fight all the way to secure a draw against England, with a late goal from Edi TUBAU ensuring that the points were shared.

England needed just two minutes to take the lead against the Spaniards, with the goal coming from a penalty corner. With the ever-dangerous Ashley JACKSON and Richard MANTELL standing at the top of the circle, it came as a surprise to Spain and the watching crowd when the ball was instead slipped to James TINDALL, who found the bottom corner with a well-placed flick. However, Xavi RIBAS scored the first of his two goals in the game when he slammed a penalty corner into the net to level the scores. That goals was the 2400th goal in Champions Trophy history, and the 2401st goal came soon after when RIBAS found the net with a penalty stroke. At this point the England of old might have capitulated, but the new look, successful England showed all of their fighting spirit to score twice before half time. The first goal came from a ferocious James TINDALL strike, with Barry MIDDLETON adding the third with a clever finish following an excellent pass from youngster Nick CONDON.

The second half was a wonderful, end-to-end affair, with both keepers being called into action on a number of occasions. Spain were desperately searching for an equaliser, while England looked more than capable of adding to their lead. Eventually though, Spain levelled the scores, and although TUBAU was the scorer, it was 2008 WorldHockey Player of the Year Pol AMAT who was the inspiration behind it. AMAT surged down the right, played a one-two with David ALEGRE before sending a perfect pass across the face of goal for TUBAU to slam into the net from close range. It was enough to give Spain a point, and it was no more than they deserved in this evenly balanced and entertaining encounter between the two teams from Europe- FIH

20.11.2009
Defending champions Australia, World & Olympic champions Germany and the Netherlands started their Champions Trophy 2009 campaigns with wins.

Australia thrashed South Korea 4-0. Des Abbott and Robbie Hammond scored for the hosts in first half while Jamie Dwyer and Eddie Ockenden scored a piece each too, in the second half.

In the other match, eight time winners of the Champions Trophy, beat Spain 3-2.
Taeke Taekama converted a penalty corner in both halves for the Dutch, which was well supplemented by the skipper Teun de Nooijer’s goal. The Spanish skipper Pol Amat and Xavier Ribas scored once each for their team but it wasn’t enough.

While the opening encounter of the tournament was an interesting 3-2 victory for the world champions Germany over England.

Germany’s Christoph Menke opened the scoring, but it was England’s James Tindall to make it 1-1 at halftime.

Jan-Marco Montag converted Germany’s third penalty corner in the second half, but England equalized a second time through an Ashley Jackson penalty stroke.

Muller converted Germany’s seventh penalty corner to clinch the winner following sustained pressure.

In Sunday’s second round of matches, the Netherlands meet Australia, Germany face South Korea and England take on Spain.

Source: FIH Website