England 2 defeated Germany 1
7th/8th place
ENG – Chloe Rogers FG 15mn, Rachel Walker FG 35mn; GER – Maike Stoeckel PC 43mn
Germany controlled the beginning of the game, having a first chance with an early penalty corner and creating dangerous situations by Fanny Rinne and Natasha Keller. It was nevertheless England who opened the scoring with one of their first incursions in German territory in the 15th mn, Chloe Rogers dribbling her way into the circle before blasting a shot past German keeper Yvonne Frank.
The goal took some wind out of the German sails and the game shifted to the German defensive zone for a long period. Germany reacted in the last ten minutes of the half, creating multiple dangerous situations in front of the English goal but without been able to put the final touch. England once again took advantage of a rare opportunity to score by Rachel Walker on a quick counter-attack with a few seconds to go in the half, leaving Germany wondering how they could be two goals down despite their superior ball possession.
Germany was rewarded early in the first half by a penalty corner goal, Maike Stoeckel deflecting at close range the pass from Fanny Rinne. They had a chance to tie the game on a penalty-stroke earned by Natasha Keller after a long rush, but Fanny Rinne’s low shot was kicked away by Katie Roberts in the English goal.
With not much seemingly going their way, Germany kept attacking but England hanged up to their narrow lead to finished this World Cup in 7th position, slightly higher that their World ranking (9th). Germany missed the experience of Nadine Ernsting-Krienke (injured in the first game) and can only be disappointed with their results here in Madrid, way below the form that earned them the Olympic Gold Medal in Athens and the Champions Trophy last July.
Argentina 5 defeated Spain 0
3rd/4th place
Goals: ARG – Maria De La Paz Hernandez FG 2m, FG 13 Magdalena Aicega FG 6m, Luciana Aymar FG 51m, Alejandra Gulla FG 53m
Argentina silenced a capacity crowd with three goals in the first 13 minutes of play on its way to a convincing 5-0 win over Spain and a third place finish at the World Cup.
Argentina struck just moments into the match when Maria De La Paz Hernandez managed a stick on a free hit into the circle and sent it rocketing toward the Spain goal. Spanish goalkeeper Maria Jesus Rosa misplayed the clear attempt with her kicker and the ball rolled slowly into the goal. The goal was upheld after review by the video umpire and sent a hush through the partisan Spanish crowd.
Argentina again delighted its own large contingent of fans just minutes later when Magdalena Aicega made a capped a spectacular counter attack run. Luciana Aymar led the attack into the circle where she dished a perfect pass to Aicega on the right post who promptly knocked the ball in for a 2-0 Argentina lead.
The Argentina onslaught continued in the 13th minute with De La Paz Hernandez again taking the honors as she lifted the ball high into the Spain net to increase the Argentina lead to 2-0.
Spain had it share of chances in the first half but the team missed on four penalty corner opportunities and Raquel Hueratas whiffed a chance in front of an open Argentina goal in the eighth minute to keep Spain scoreless at halftime.
Argentina continued its dominance in the second half when Aymar and Alejandra Gulla scored on back-back goals in the 51st and 53rd minutes. Aymar deflected a Maine Russo pass just above the Spanish goal boards for a 4-0 Argentina lead before Gulla instinctively fired a high shot into the back of the net to give Argentina a 5-0 advantage.
The third-place finish marked the third medal in the past four World Cup appearances for Argentina. Argentina won a silver medal in Dublin in 1994 before winning the World Cup gold medal in Perth in 2002.
The fourth place finish capped a remarkable run by home country Spain and matched its best World Cup performance earned at the first World Cup in Barcelona in 1972. Spain entered the tournament as the world’s No. 10 ranked team but used the passionate support of the home-country crowd to earn a spot in the semifinals. Spain earned wins over higher-ranked foes Germany (No. 3) and China (No. 5) and a 1-1 draw with No. 9 England to secure a spot in the semifinals.
Netherlands 3 defeated Australia 1
1st/2nd place
NED – Maartje Paumen PC 41mn, PS 66mn, Sylvia Karres FG 55mn; AUS – Rebecca Sanders PC 47mn
The Netherlands started this 2006 World Cup Final with two players having contested the two previous finals (Fatima Moreira de Melo and Minke Smabers) and seven who lost to Argentina on penalty-strokes in 2002. Australia only had one survivor from their last World Cup title in 1998 (Nikki Hudson).
Australia had an early chance by Kim Walker well kicked away by Dutch keeper Lisanne de Roever. The game took a while to pick up its rhythm with both teams well structured and leaving each other little space or time. The Netherlands progressively became more dangerous with good shots from Eefke Mulder and the omnipresent Kim Lammers, very active as a high forward. Australia had trouble getting out of defense, leaving many turn-over balls that the Dutch players were quick to turn into danger.
The Netherlands thought that they had scored in the 31st mn when a free hit from Eefke Mulder appeared to be deviated in goal by Sylvia Karres, but the video umpiring showed that it was instead touched by a defender’s stick. The Dutch were un-phased and immediately earned a penalty corner, but they could not convert it and the first half ended scoreless.
Australia attacked the second half on a fast pace, with a reverse shot by Nikki Hudson and a penalty corner narrowly missing the target. Just when the Dutch fans were starting to worry for their team, they earned a series of penalty-corners and Maartje Paumen finally hit the backboard with a hard direct shot.
The goal boosted the confidence of the Dutch players and the Aussies were under intense pressure for a few minutes, until they managed to escape with a very fast counter-attack that earned them a penalty-stroke. Rebecca Sanders didn’t flinch and even the score in the 47th mn.
The Netherlands kept their composure and their pressure was finally rewarded when Sylvia Karres pounced on a loose ball in the circle and slammed it in goal with a reverse shot, her 6th goal of the competition. The last ten minutes were long for a Dutch team that was getting tired, but they efficiently manage to keep control of the play, even earning a stroke with 4 minutes to go. Maartje Paumen made no mistake to score her second goal of the game and put the result beyond doubt.
With the clock ticking down, the Dutch fans were on their feet to push their team towards a title that eluded them since 1990. The Netherlands were deserving winners of this 2006 World Cup, having by far been the most consistent team throughout the competition.
