The final day of the Samsung Champions Trophy started with the 7th/8th place play-off between Pakistan and Malaysia, then saw Spain defeat Great Britain for 5th place, the Netherlands snatch the bronze medal from the Koreans, and Germany downing Australia in the final to pronounce themselves the winners of the competition.
The first game of the day between Pakistan and Malaysia, with not much at stake, was only played half-heartedly by both teams and not much happened in the first half. Pakistan went into the break with a narrow one-goal lead (1-0) thanks to a penalty-corner by Imran Muhammad. They increased their lead with a field goal by Arshad Muhammad early in the first period, and the game seemed folded with the Malaysian players looking tired and uninspired.
But, as was often the case earlier in this tournament, they suddenly found their legs in the last fifteen minutes and overwhelmed the loose Pakistani defense with successive waves of fast plays. They were rewarded with two field goals in three minutes by Tengku Abdul Jalil to push the game into overtime.
With Malaysia penalized with a yellow card early in extra-time, Pakistan didn’t waste much more time and Imran Muhammad scored his second penalty corner of the day, a “Golden Goal” that gave the win to Pakistan. They must nevertheless be bitterly disappointed with their final placing in the competition (7th) as it rules them out of next year’s Champions Trophy.
Malaysia finished last, but surprised the observers during the whole competition, playing at the level above their World Ranking (15th) and seemingly not impressed by the status of their mighty opponents. They had some close results against the top teams, including against Germany (2-3), which they’ll meet again in the Olympic Qualifier in Japan.
In the play-off for 5th/6th place, Spain met Great Britain and won the lead after only a few minutes as Brett Garrard gave away the ball sloppily deep in defense, setting Victor Sojo and Edi Tubau off on an attack. Tubau had the first shot but was denied by James Fair. However, the rebound fell to Sojo who tipped it in.
Eight minutes later, Spain made good use of a penalty corner. Ribas´ flick was saved by Fair but Ramon Alegre was ready and batted the ball in for Spain´s second. It looked like Spain was going to walk away with the match quite easily, despite Britain being the more active team, but the Spanish became complacent and gave away their lead, allowing two first half penalty corner goals by Ben Hawes and Richard Mantell.
In the second half, Spain were more alert. Play turned quite physical until a yellow card for Alex Fabregas made both teams more cautious. Spain struggled but survived the period of numerical disadvantage, eventually able to gain momentum again. In the 61st minute, Santi Freixa, who was only doing short stints on the field due to problems with his knees, converted a penalty corner, and two minutes later, Xavi Ribas put away another corner for the 4-2 end result.
Great Britain tried hard today but could only challenge the Spanish when they slacked, unable to keep up when Spain shifted gears. By winning the play-off for 5th/6th place, Spain have also won the added benefit of an invitation to next year´s edition of the Champions Trophy: they join Germany, Australia, Korea, the Netherlands, and Argentina for the tournament in Rotterdam in June 2008.
The Bronze Medal game between the Netherlands and Korea was a close encounter between two teams producing a superb display of hockey. The Netherlands played an excellent first half, monopolizing the ball and scoring two goals reflecting well their domination of the proceedings. Taeke Taekema opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a penalty-corner that allowed him to equal the all-time Champions Trophy top scorer, Sohail Abbas from Pakistan, with 40 goals. In the 26th minute, after a quick exchange of passes in the circle had put the Korean goal-keeper out of position, Rob Reckers added a field goal from a narrow angle after bouncing the ball on the post.
The Netherlands went into the break with the lead, but there was nevertheless a feeling that Korea could pick up their pace significantly in the second half. They did not wait long and, after less than one minute of play, Woon Kon Yeo received the ball with a lot of room in the circle and took his time to adjust a shot that left no chance to Guus Vogels in the Dutch goal.
The Netherlands knew all too well how overwhelming the Koreans can be when they pick up the pace in the second half (after having to concede 5 goals in the last fifteen minutes of their pool play against Korea…) so they started to play more cautiously, trying to maintain possession as long as possible. They rebuilt a welcome two-goal buffer in the 52nd minute when Jeroen Hertzberger managed to slot in goal a penalty-corner rebound.
The Korean pressure in the last ten minutes went crescendo, and they came within reach in the 68th minute, on a penalty-corner by Byung Hoon Kim taking over from specialist Jong Hyun Jang not on the field at that time. But it was too late and the Dutch held on to claim the Bronze Medal.
In the Final of the 2007 Champions Trophy, having blocked out yesterday´s humiliating 0-5 defeat, Germany came out strong and scored in the 5th minute when Timo Wess leisurely flicked a laid-off penalty corner ball into the top left corner. Germany went on to dominate the initial phase of the match but could not score again, even though the Kookaburras were slow to find their rhythm. As time wore on, play got increasingly physical and threatened to turn ugly, but a yellow card for Nathan Eglington after a vicious tackle on Benni Wess that would eventually see him sin-binned for 25 long minutes, calmed things down and brought the match back on track.
Germany had a few more opportunities in the first half, but after the break grew increasingly weary of risking their lead. Australia kept attacking, pressuring for the elusive equalizer, and managed to create scores of opportunities, while Germany withdrew to putting their energies mainly into defending their lead.
Australia eventually would have deserved better for their ceaseless efforts in the later part of the match than to go down to a lone fifth minute goal but could not manage to overcome the stonewalling German defense that managed to hang on by the skin of their teeth until the hooter ended the match. Christian Schulte had to pull out all stops, making numerous fabulous saves to keep the Germans ahead, while the defense around captain Timo Wess worked double-time cleaning out the circle again and again, but in the end, it was all worth it, as they claimed the title, trophy, and gold medals.
Samsung Hockey Champions Trophy 2007 – Final Standings
1. Germany
2. Australia
3. Netherlands
4. Korea
5. Spain
6. Great Britain
7. Pakistan
8. Malaysia
Furthermore, the following players were recognized with individual awards: Dutch Taeke Taekema and Korean Jong Hyun Jang as the topscorers, Dutch Guus Vogels as the Best Goalkeeper, Eddie Ockenden from Australia as the Best Young Player, German captain Timo Wess as the Best Player of the Final, and Matthias Witthaus, also from Germany, as the Best Player of the tournament. The Fair Play Trophy went to Great Britain.
Samsung Hockey Champions Trophy, Men
Results day 8: Sunday 9 December 2007
Pakistan - Malaysia 2:2 (1:0) 3:2 AET
7. Imran Muhammad 1:0; 40. Arshad Muhammad 2:0; 58. Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Abdul Jalil 2:1; 61. Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Abdul Jalil 2:2; 73. Imran Muhammad 3:2 (GG)
Spain - Great Britain 4:2 (2:2)
6. Victor Sojo 1:0; 14. Xavi Ribas 2:0; 20. Ben Hawes 2:1; 35. Richard Mantell 2:2; 61. Santi Freixa 3:2; 63. Xavi Ribas 4:2
Netherlands - Korea 2:1 (2:0)
16. Taeke Taekema 1:0; 26. Rob Reckers 2:0; 36. Woon Kon Yeo 2:1; 52. Jeroen Hertzberger 3:1; 68. Byung Hoon Kim 3:2
Germany - Australia 1:0 (1:0)
5. Timo Wess 1:0
