Photo by Daniel Carson shows England's Helen Richardson (right), the scorer of yesteday's equaliser against Korea. England's match against South Africa this afternoon will decide whether England play for a place in the finals of the World Cup in Rosario. England should be expected to win against the lower ranked South Africans, but they need to improve their goal difference to hold off the Koreans, who have an easier run in the final matches of the pool stage. On their current form, Korea can be expected to win against Spain (who they play today) and South Africa, whilst England face table leaders Argentina in their last pool match next Monday. There is only a difference of two goals between Korea and England and so it would only take a couple of modest wins by Korea for them to draw level and overtake England on goal difference to take second place in Pool B.
The last of the re-arranged Pool B matches played yesterday saw Argentina beat Spain 4-0 with two penalty corner conversions by Noel Barrionuevo and field goals from Alejandra Gulla and Rosario Luchetti.
Looking back on England's 1-1 draw against Korea yesterday, Helen Richardson's solo run which resulted in her equaliser, has been shown on BBC Sports News and shows what a magnificent effort it was. One of the reporters likened her to Diego Maradona.
Pool A matches were scheduled to be played yesterday and all went ahead. Germany secured their second place in the table with a 4-1 win over India, with goals from Eileen Hoffmann, Maike Stockel, Natascha Keller and Lydia Haase. India's only goal was scored by Rani Rampal.
The Netherlands emphasised their dominance of their pool with a 4-1 win over Australia. Kelly Jonker opened the scoring for the Dutch with a penalty corner and, although the Hockeyroos were able to draw level with a Nicole Arrold goal, two more penalty corners from Jonker and a goal from Minke Smeets, meant it was all over by early in the second half. Final score, 5-1 to the Dutch.
In a tournament that has seen a fair number of early goals, spectators had to wait until the 11th minute of the second half in the match between Japan and New Zealand. Japan scored two goals in quick succession, the first from Kaori Chiba and the second from Mie Nakashima, only to see the Blacksticks reply with two in just over a minute – Krystal Forgesson and Kayla Shapland the scoreres. Final score 2-2.
Results of the England matches and full pool tables can be found on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk.
