The seventh day of the 2023 FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup brought the conclusion of Pool A and Pool B group stage action as Australia and Belgium topped their pools and booked their quarter-finals, while Argentina, France, Germany and Korea now move on to the intersections. Incredibly, in all four matches, at least one player scored a hat-trick, with the second match between France and Argentina netting two, as Blake Govers (AUS), Victor Charlet (FRA), Nicolas della Torre (ARG), Tom Boon (BEL ) and Niklas Wellen (GER) all scored at least three times for their teams. A total of 38 goals were scored in the 4 games of the day, for a whopping 9.5 goals per game.
In the opening game of the day, the Australian attack showed itself in the first half, going 7-1 into the break-up to put the result beyond doubt. South Africa gave a better picture of themselves in the second half, but Australia still had no comfortable winners with a 9-2 final score.
Argentina and France then played in an absolute thriller with 2 goals scored by the teams in the last 53 seconds. The game ended 5–5, leaving Argentina above France in the final standings as both teams headed into the crossovers.
In Pool B, Belgium first settled their affairs by recording an impressive 7-1 victory over Japan, with star striker Tom Boon opening his account in the World Cup with a 5-goal performance, taking Belgium’s goal difference to plus-11 .
Germany faced Korea in the last meeting and needed to win by 9 goals to overtake Belgium in the Pool B standings and gain direct access to the quarter-finals, but an impressive 7-2 was not enough as they joined Korea on away to the crossovers of Pool B.
Match 1: Australia vs South Africa 9-2
After a brief hiccup in their game against Argentina, Australia scored again at their best from the first whistle in the game against South Africa. Blake Govers, who scored the all-important equalizer against Argentina, was on fire, scoring 4 times in the first half to level with Jip Janssen and Thierry Brinkman on the top scorer list. South Africa did manage to level after Australia’s opener, but Australia added 6 goals between the 10th and 28th minutes, making South Africa’s 8th-minute equalizer seem a distant memory by the time the halftime whistle sounded.
Jeremy Hayward added an 8th for Australia in the 32nd minute, but that would be the only goal scored in the 3rd quarter as South Africa tightened up their defence. Tevin Kok had a great chance to score as time expired in the 3rd quarter, but his attempted lob over the keeper sailed over the goal. South Africa’s resurgence also continued in the final quarter, as Tim Brand’s goal early in the 4th quarter was canceled out by a late goal from Tevin Kok to tie the score in the final quarter.
Blake Govers was named player of the match for his four-goal performance, saying: “We got our goals early which was good because we weren’t very clean in our performance in the second half. Overall it was a good start of the match.” WC.”
Match 2: France vs Argentina 5-5
France has been a bogey team for Argentina in recent years, scoring important victories against the Leones in the 2018 World Cup, as well as the FIH Hockey Pro League in 2022. France entered the game after a big win against South Africa and Argentina after an impressive draw against Australia, the stage was set for another high-pressure encounter. And the teams delivered on the promise early on, with Argentina scoring early in the 3rd minute through Nicolas Keenan and France answering in the 11th minute through Etienne Tynevez, as the teams entered the half level on points.
The momentum swung several times in the 3rd quarter as Argentina scored early to take the lead through Nicolas della Torre, before France snatched the lead back through a brace from Victor Charlet. della Torre scored again from a penalty corner to level Argentina again, setting up a thrilling final quarter. Both teams traded a goal each in the 4th quarter and the game looked set to be a draw as France won a penalty with just 53 seconds left in the game, which was again sent off by Charlet, for his fourth goal of the game. contest. game! Unwilling to give up, Argentina earned a series of penalty corners in the dying seconds and scored with 6 seconds left to secure second spot in the group as France finished third.
Victor Charlet was named player of the match, saying “Good to get a hat-trick but I would have preferred to win. We really wanted to finish second in the group but we will take the confidence from this performance into the next game. “
Match 3: Belgium vs Japan 7-1
With a draw in the previous game against Germany, Belgium needed a big win against Japan to try and secure their place at the top of Pool B and earn direct qualification for the quarter-finals, and a first-half hat-trick from Tom Boon delivered them a 4. goal lead by the end of the first half, and increased their goal difference to +9, with a further 30 minutes to further extend their lead over Germany, who had a +3 goal difference with one game left in the final game of the day against Korea.
Japan had a much better start to the second half, holding out Belgium in the 3rd quarter and scoring their first of the game early in the 4th. But Belgium had a much better end to the game, scoring three times in the last 10 minutes, including another 2 goals for Tom Boon, to win by a 6-goal margin and boost their overall goal difference to +11.
Tom Boon, who became only the 4th player ever to score 5 goals in a World Cup match, was named player of the match, saying: “I think after scoring no goals in the first quarter, it’s good to have 7 goals and get a +6.” goal difference in the last 3 quarters. I look forward to playing in the knockouts in the future.”
Match 4: Korea vs Germany 2-7
The last game of the day was also the last game of the pool stage, with Germany needing a 9-goal victory to overtake Belgium in the Pool B standings and advance straight to the quarter-finals, but against an in-away Korean team that would. prove to be too big a mountain for the Honamas to climb. Germany started the game well, scoring through Niklas Wellen in the second minute of the game, but by the end of the first quarter, Korea had pulled a goal back to keep the scores level. Wellen, who was in blistering scoring form, gave Germany the lead back before half-time, but with only one goal ahead halfway through the game, Germany’s hopes of surpassing the group quickly faded.
The second half started frantically as both teams traded end-to-end counterattacks. Korea had the best chance in the 32nd minute when Junwoo Jeong found shooting space in the German circle, but his poisonous hit sailed inches over the target. Wellen extended the German lead by completing his hat-trick in the 41st minute and Gonzalo Peillat added another for the Honamas in the 43rd minute from their 6th penalty corner of the day.
In the 4th quarter, Germany overran Korea offensively, scoring three times in the first 7 minutes, but Korea pulled back on their defense as German attempts to overtake Belgium narrowly fell short. Korea added a second goal in the last minute as they won a penalty corner as the Germans knocked out their keeper for an outfield player.
Hat-trick hero Niklas Wellen was named player of the match, saying: “We knew how many goals we needed to finish at the top of the group, and we fell a few goals short, but 2 wins and a draw from the three pool stage matches are about Overall a very good result for us.”
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