Egyptian win starts journey to Rio
The Black Sticks men’s hockey team made a winning start to their quest for Olympic qualification with a 4-1 victory over Egypt at the FIH World League semifinals tournament in Argentina.
World No7 New Zealand controlled the game throughout against their 20th-ranked opponents, only conceding a goal late in the match in Buenos Aires.
The top three teams from the 10-team tournament automatically qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics, with the top four advancing to the World League Finals in India in November.
New Zealand play Japan at 5am tomorrow (NZ time) and also meet the Netherlands and Korea on their side of the draw.
New Zealand coach Colin Batch is demanding more from his team with the consequences at this tournament so significant.
‘‘The win is good but we are disappointed with the way we executed it, there was a bit of frustration out there. We never underestimated Egypt, they had some good players that came forward, and defensively they limited the shots we had on goal, especially in that first half,’’ Batch said after the historic first test against Egypt.
‘‘I think the area we need to improve is our transferring and passing to create more opportunities – and we will look at that ahead of tomorrow’s game.
‘‘We know more about the way Japan play, we have played them and had some good results recently, it’s just about getting out there and doing the business tomorrow.’’
New Zealand didn’t open the scoring until three minutes before halftime when they were awarded their first penalty corner of the game. Drag flicker Kane Russell rocketed the ball into the back of the net.
The Black Sticks picked up their pace in the third quarter when captain Simon Child won a tackle at the top of the circle and took a clinical reverse stick shot which flew past the keeper.
Just 90 seconds later striker Hugo Inglis stretched the lead to 3-0 thanks to a brilliant touch from a Russell cross in the circle.
Egypt got on the board in the fourth quarter but New Zealand put the game beyond their reach when they won a video referral for their second chance at a penalty corner and Nick Haig flicked it across the line to complete the scoring.