The Netherlands are through to the Final of the Standard Chartered Bank FIH Men's Junior World Cup.
New Zealand controlled game play for much of the 1st half with a great chance in the 8th minute of play when the All Blacks beat Holland defenders to take a shot on goal, but the shot went straight to goalkeeper Derek van Essen. Netherlands counter-attacked with a couple of scoring attempts, but they too could not find the net.
In the 24th minute, New Zealand superstar, captain Simon Child put his team on the board when he dribbled the ball along the back line and lifted it with ease past Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak. The Dutch came close to equalising with a penalty corner in the last minute of the 1st half, but Kiwi keeper Devon Manchester stepped up to the plate with a good save for New Zealand.
Starting the 2nd half one down was a wake up call for the Dutch. Jan-Willem Buissant evened the score when he claimed Netherlands' first goal in the 39th minute. Netherlands kept the pressure on New Zealand, especially keeper Manchester who was repeatedly challenged by Holland's attempts to score. He executed two consecutive saves, one of which was an excellent fend-off during a penalty corner drag-flick, but was unable to stop Mink van der Weerden's drag-flick goal in the 60th minute off a penalty corner.
Another penalty corner two minutes later saw Van der Weerden repeat his drag-flick to increase Netherlands' lead to 3-1. With their growing lead, there was a lift in Netherlands' game play and the Black Sticks struggled to counter. New Zealand failed to capitalise on the few chances they had and opponent Robbert Kemperman cemented Netherlands' win with a field goal in the 65th minute.
Netherlands coach Paul van Ass was clearly a relieved man, saying "New Zealand played far better than we did in the first half. We had a little bit of nerves and I noticed that for the first time in the tournament and maybe it's because we had something to lose. During half-time I told the boys ‘I don't care if we lose, but I hate it if we never try. And if you do not have the balls to step up then I think it is a real loss and you will take it with you forever. So don't do that. Trust the system. We can build and then we take it from there'. And so we did.
On meeting Germany, van Ass added, "Germany is very good but not unbeatable. I think in the final it's all about the details, it's all about who can compose themselves. You need a little bit of luck and things like that. Injuries are also of course important. It's really coming down to details. So I am looking forward to this match (the final)...we will go there and give everything we can."
Kiwi coach Peter Miskimmin said "I thought for three quarters of that game we were going to win...but we just couldn't turn it into a result. The Dutch took another step up and at critical moments in the game, they controlled it and their dead ball skills and corners were the difference between the two teams in the end. I am immensely proud of my boys. They are devastated and they have never been in this situation but they just have to pick themselves up for the play-offs for third and fourth. Australia play a very aggressive and a very fast game. But there's a medal up for stake so I expect my boys to come out and want it. I can't ask for anything more than that. It's always hard to play teams that you play a lot. They know you, you know them. It's a lot about who can execute best on the day."
The Netherlands will play three time world champion Germany in the Final on Sunday while New Zealand and Australia will face off for 3rd-4th place. Both matches will take place in Johor Bahru on Sunday.
The Germans are through to the final after beating Australia 3-2 in extra time in the other semi final played at the Johor Baru Hockey stadium tonight. Centreforward Florian Fuchs' winning goal in the extra time of their semi-final clash against Australia made all the difference. Both teams were tied at 2-2 at the end of regulation time.
In an exciting fight for 5th-6th classification, Pakistan dominated the match against Argentina to win 4-1 and relegated them to 6th place.
Pakistan drew first blood in the 9th minute when Aamir Shahzad converted a penalty corner. Argentina struck back with Agustin Anibal Cabrera's goal in the 16th minute, also a result of a penalty corner. The score line was left unchallenged for the rest of the half with both teams unable to create a goal. Recharged at the start of the 2nd half, captain Shafqat Rasool successfully put a goal past Federico Nicolas Gravelloni in the 45th minute to bring the score to 2-1. Hungry for more, Pakistan kept the pressure on and a penalty stroke in the 63rd minute was converted by Rasool who claimed his 2nd goal. Within two minutes, Haider responded to take Pakistan to 4-1. With less than five minutes to go, Argentina had lost their chance to climb back and succumbed to Pakistan.
Meanwhile, in the 15th-16th classification match, South Africa clinched 15th place in this tournament after Antony Vervoort scored the game-winning penalty stroke in their 6-5 shootout win over England. England's Nick Catlin, who had an outstanding game against the South Africans, had earlier missed England's sixth penalty. In a tense and physical match that ended 2-2, it was England who raced to a two-goal lead after 50 minutes. But South Africa managed to pull themselves level with goals in the 53rd and 66th minute to force extra-time. Both teams failed to find the match-winning goal during extra-time to set up the thrilling penalty shoot-out.
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