The world’s top four teams, Australia, Germany, Netherlands and hosts Great Britain, will take on each other with a keen eye on the Men’s Hockey Gold Medal match of London Olympics which will be played on 11th August, 2012.
In first Semi Final, world number one Kookaburras will face world number two Germany at 15:30 BST. Having played each other in big matches, like final of World Cup 2010 (Kookaburras won 2-1), and recently in the London Prepares Series/Visa International Invitational Hockey Tournament (Germany won both 3-2 in league stage and 5-2 in Final), know each other very well. These two teams have played each other 4 times in the Olympics, of which Australia won twice, while Germany got better once and one was drawn.
In second Semi Final, world number three Netherlands will take on the hosts Great Britain at 2000 BST. Having drawn with Australia from 0-3 down, world number four Great Britain will look forward to upset Netherlands, the only team to win all the 5 pool matches in the competition. The hosts will also enjoy the backing by the twelfth man, the-supportors-in-the-stands, who have been vocal and have lifted the moral of home side at crucial moments. Great Britain and Netherlands have faced each other six times in the Olympics, with one draw and three wins for Netherlands. In Beijing, Netherlands defeated Great Britain 1-0.
In other two matches of the day, Argentina will New Zealand and Pakistan will take on Korea for 7th and 9th position respectively.
Points Tables after the completion of Pool Matches of MEN’s Hockey Competition at London 2012:
Pool A:
| Team | Pts | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1  Australia |
11 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 5 | 18 |
2  Great Britain |
9 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 8 | 6 |
3  Spain |
8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 10 | -2 |
4  Pakistan |
7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 16 | -7 |
5  Argentina |
4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 14 | -4 |
6  South Africa |
1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 22 | -11 |
Pool B:
| Team | Pts | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1  Netherlands |
15 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 7 | 11 |
2  Germany |
10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 11 | 3 |
3  Belgium |
7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 1 |
4  Korea |
6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 1 |
5  New Zealand |
5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 14 | -4 |
6  India |
0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 18 | -12 |
Related posts:
Netherlands Vs New Zealand and Argentina Vs Great Britain in the Semis: Preview Day 6 of London 2012 WOMEN’S Hockey
London 2012 Hockey MEN-Day 5 Preview: Three Semi-Final Berths are Up for Grabbing
London 2012 Hockey WOMEN-Day 5 Review and Results: Its Netherlands Vs New Zealand and Argentina Vs Great Britain in semis