Canada 1 beat China 0
Goals: Canada – Wayne Fernandes PC 59m
In a match that confirmed its lowly ranks Canada has ground out a hard fought 1-0 win over China in the first classification match on day nine.
It appeared as though both teams were struggling with the early 9am hit-off, a possible excuse for the first half slumber which led to few chances in a slow and lackluster opening. The second half didn’t rise to any great heights either despite a generously sized home crowd chanting for the Chinese.
As the match drew on it looked more likely to be heading to extra time, but Canada dispelled those thoughts, scoring in the 59th minute from a penalty corner. After working a variation at the top Wayne Fernandes ended up with the ball on the left and coolly flicked it into the bottom right hand corner of the goal.
One player in particular that would be happy with his performance would be Canada’s goalkeeper, Matthew Peck, who kept out the few chances he did have to save in his first match of the tournament.
It was another disappointing loss for China who remain winless for the tournament and left to battle it out for the wooden spoon on Saturday against the loser of the Malaysia versus Egypt match which was played at the same time on field two.
Malaysia 6 beat Egypt 2
Goals: Malaysia – Muhamad Amin Rahim PC 31m PC 38m PC 60m, Ismail Abu FG 43m, Logan Raj Kali Kavandan FG 47m, Mohd Rodzhanizam Mat Radzi FG 51m, Egypt – Mohamed El Sayed PC 41m, Mohamed Abdel Aziz FG 53m
With 30 minutes delay over the match on pitch one, Malaysia and Egypt got together for the other crossover match in the 9-12 playoffs on pitch 2.
Egypt still could not field their captain Amrou Metwalli who served the second part of his two match suspension for an off-the-ball incident that occurred in the match Egypt – Ireland on Monday.
At the very beginning of the match, Egypt had some good attacks and seemed the better team as Malaysia had difficulty to penetrate the Egyptian circle. However, whenever they did, their attempts were closer to the mark, going only slightly wide or even hitting the post. As time wore on, Malaysia could create more chances, also winning penalty corners, something the Egyptians did not manage until deep in the second half.
With four minutes to go, Malaysia converted their second penalty corner for a 1-0 lead that they took into halftime. Overall, the match was very even in the first half, both teams had several goalscoring chances, and an interesting second half seemed promised.
After the break however, Malaysia were off to a flying start, as Muhamad Amin Rahim converted another penalty corner. While Egypt got one goal back when Mohamed El Sayed first mistrapped but then with a brilliant reverse stick shot still converted a penalty corner, Malaysia quickly put a third goal on top of their other two to restore a two goal lead. Four minutes later, they raised the bar again, as Logan Raj Kali Kavandan sunk a field goal to make it 4-1.
In the 48th minute, Malaysia’s Jiwa Mohan was yellowcarded, but with one man down, instead of struggling, Malaysia extended their lead to 5-1 with a Mohd Rodzhanizam Mat Radzi field goal. Still with a numerical advantage, Egypt scored their second goal two minutes later when Mohamed Abdel Aziz put away a field goal, but throughout this second half, the Africans faded fast and were no match for the tirelessly attacking Malaysians.
Malaysia now dominated play pretty much at will, and in the 60th minute, they scored again, as Muhamad Amin Rahim completed his hattrick converting a third penalty corner, and made it 6-2. Egypt did not offer resistance anymore, and they could not take advantage either of Malaysia going down one man again with 6 minutes to go as Jivan Mohan was yellowcarded for a rough tackle.
Malaysia will now be playing Canada for 9th place tomorrow, while Egypt meets China in the match for 11th place.
France 1 beat Belgium 1 (France win penalty strokes 4-2)
Goals: France – Matthieu Durchon FG 23m, Belgium – Maxime Luycx FG 7m
The first of the two crossover matches in the 5-8 playoff, played by France and Belgium, turned out a true thriller. Carrying considerable weight because it determined who stayed in the race for a World Cup berth and who went out, the match was fiercely contested between the two European long time rivals.
France had a shaky start, looking quite nervous, and Belgium soon got an early advantage when Maxime Luycx put away a scrappy goal less than 7 minutes into the game. As the game progressed, both teams held each other in a standoff, with few, but some, chances on either side. France was the luckier team, managing the equalizer when Matthieu Durchon dove in for a long pass and deflected it into the net.
Their goal gave France confidence, and they played better as time went on, but were unable to score in the first half, and the match went into halftime at 1-1. During the second half, France increased their dominance, and pretty much dictated play towards the end of regulation time, but could not manage to score the elusive goal.
The match went into overtime, again dominated by the French who were again unable to capitalize on their dominance. Belgium struggled to keep the French at bay, and at the same time was busy trying to settle matters in extra time rather than going to penalty strokes and avoid the dark memories from the Madrid penalty stroke competition that denied them qualification for the Athens Olympics.
Neither team was able to score however, with France seemingly also considering their chances in a penalty stroke competition good and stalling rather than attacking in the final minutes of extra time.
And to penalty strokes the match went, and France did win, largely thanks to an outstanding preformance from from French goalkeeper Julien Thamin who saved two penalties, denying both Jerome Truyens and Loic Vandeweghe.
Belgium have thus missed out on the possibility of qualifying for Monchengladbach, while the French dream on, and will be battling the winner of the encounter between Japan and Ireland for the last remaining World Cup berth on Sunday.
Japan 2 beat Ireland 1
Goals: Japan – Takahiko Yamabori PC 13m, Akira Ito FG 59m, Ireland – John Jermyn PC 34m
After France had beat Belgium to remain in contention for a berth in the World Cup, Japan and Ireland met to decide who would be France’s opponent in Sunday’s all important match for 5th/6th place.
Ireland started well, creating several scoring opportunities but could not convert, whereas Japan got down to the point quickly: first chance, first penalty corner, first goal, as the ever reliable Takahiko Yamabori put away his fourth goal in this tournament, all scored from penalty corners.
The Irish were only motivated more by this goal against them, working hard to get the equalizer. John Jermyn, who with his excellent performances in previous matches has played a pivotal role in getting Ireland to this stage, and Stephen Butler, who finally displayed his superior skills, were the driving forces in this phase. Shortly before the second half, Ireland were rewarded with a penalty corner, and John Jermyn converted with a low flick to the right.
All in all, Ireland had slight advantages in the first half, but could not capitalize on them.
As the teams came back from the break however, Japan had a much better start back into the game, and the balance shifted towards the Asians. With just under 25 minutes passed in the second half, Japan restored their lead, when Akira Ito picked up the rebound off a Charlie Henderson save and coolly converted with a well thought through shot into the open net.
Ireland then attacked relentlessly, trying to take the match into extra time, and salvage their dream of a World Cup participation, but they eventually ran out of time as Japan clung to their lead.
Japan are thus France’s opponents in Sunday’s decider over the last remaining berth for the Monchengladbach World Cup, while Ireland will be playing Belgium in tomorrow’s match for 7th/8th place.
The remaining matches of the day had to be postponed to tomorrow Saturday, due to heavy rain and pitch flooding.
