Games lessons can help spring upset
TOWNSVILLE hockey star Stephanie Kershaw is confident the lessons the Hockeyroos learned from their Commonwealth Games heartache will help them handle the pressure of the World Cup medal rounds.
Australia will take on world number one, the Netherlands, in tonight’s semi- final clash in London after negotiating a tense quarterfinal penalty shootout against Argentina.
Midfielder Kershaw has en- trenched herself in Australia’s firstchoice team the past two years after making her way back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
The 23- year- old said the Hockeyroos had a heart- to- heart after losing to the Kiwis in the Commonwealth Games gold medal clash on the Gold Coast in April.
“It was pretty disappointing to come second, but we learned a lot from that coming into the World Cup,” Kershaw said.
“We’re a stronger group for it. I’m not saying it’s a blessing a disguise because we would have liked to win, but we knew we had to get better after that and we’ve put in a lot of hard work since to get here.
“We talked about our connections and being able to work more as a unit and a collective group going forward. Also to be more attacking and confident individually as well as a team, and I think we’ve done all of these things so far.
“That was probably the biggest crowd most of us have played in front of in our careers, now we know what it’s like and we’re not as fazed.”
The world number five Hockeyroos have one of the youngest squads in the competition and will start underdogs against the Dutch.
But Kershaw said the confidence borne from beating the world number three Argentines has given them the belief they can spring an upset.
“We’re definitely one of the most inexperienced teams but we don’t really care about that, we’ve just played our own game and enjoyed every moment of it,” Kershaw said.
“I think our group will stay together for a while, that’s really exciting going into Tokyo ( 2020 Olympics).
“To beat the number three in the world is pretty massive. I think we can take a lot of confidence out of this tournament already.”
The Dutch possess a star- studded line- up, including the World Cup’s leading goalscorer Kitty van Male ( seven).
The semi final will be broadcast live on Fox Sports tonight from 11pm.