A day not expected to bring any surprises – and it did not - and not well supported in the stands apart from those Orange men and women of Holland who are seen all around the world.
Germany and Canada started day four with the Germans having an easy ride against an outclassed Canadian side. A field goal from Benjamin Wess and penalty corner strikes from Jan-Marco Montag, captain Maximilian Muller and Martin Haner, put the Germans clearly in the driving seat at half-time. 18-year old Florian Fuchs, the youngest player in the tournament, cemented the win and his growing reputation as he put in two more goals from open play to make it 6-0.
Argentina played Korea in game two. The Koreans started well in their first match against Germany, but were slower off the mark in this one, with Argentina holding them to 0-0 at half time. Argentina took a deserved lead half way through the second half when Juan Martin Lopez came in from the right and passed to Facundo Callioni who squeezed it in past a packed defence.
Korea equalised with eight minutes remaining when Hyo Sik You crossed for Nam Yong Lee to deflect in. With just one minute to go a team referral won Korea a penalty corner and Hyun Woo Nam made it a slightly fortunate 2-1 victory.
In the final match, New Zealand took the lead in the very first minute against the Netherlands, captain Phillip Burrows netting for the underdogs. It was the first goal conceded by the Dutch in this year's World Cup. However, a minute later and they were level when Ronald Brouwer put the ball past the keeper. And Taeke Taekema edged closer to Jan Floris Bovelander's record when he netted from his fourth penalty corner of the World Cup, his 200th goal in all competitions. The Netherlands made it 3-1 before half time when Jeroen Hertzberger scored.
The Dutch took it easy in the second half doing just enough to keep the New Zealanders at bay, missing several penalty corner chances in the process.
Summary of today's scores:
Canada 0 Germany 6
Argentina 1 Korea 2
New Zealand 1 Netherlands 3
Pool tables can be found on the World Cup page of our web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk.
England's next match is against Pakistan tomorrow (Thursday).
