Monday, June 08, 2009

JWC DAY TWO REPORTS


After a cool day one, it was searing heat that greeted the teams on day two of the Junior World Cup in Johor Bahru.

Spain locked horns against United States of America and they had trouble adapting to the heat despite being here for the last ten days. And despite an early hiccup, Spain turned on the power to blast nine goals past USA.

They struggled initially as USA stood firm in defence but as the match progressed, it was only time that Spain would score.

And that did as Spain opened scoring in the 18th minute through Javier Garcia before Salvador Piera doubled the advantage in the very next minute.

USA caved in a conceded a third goal in the 23rd minute when Diego Arana capitalized on a defensive mix up to put Spain 3-0 ahead.

The second half started the same as the first with Spain piling the pressure but USA keeper Kevin Segeren pulled off some fine saves.

But he could do little to stop Roc Oliva from scoring in the 43rd minute as he dribbled past two defenders to put his team 4-0 ahead. And three minutes later it was 5-0 when Gabriel Dabanach scored off a penalty corner.

More misery was to come for USA as they conceded four more goals, scored by Salvador Piera (52nd minute), Xavier Lleonart (61st minute) and Dabanach who went on to complete his hattrick netting in the 69th and 70th minutes.

Spanish coach Salvador Indurain was delighted with his team netting the three points.

“It was important to score more goals then what South Korea scored against USA,” said Indurain.

“We took time to settle down due to the heat but we will be playing matches at night after this so the heat will be a thing of the past.”

Hosts Malaysia lost to South Korea 2-0 but really have only themselves to blame as they squandered many chances.

Contrary to earlier speculation Malaysia started off on the offensive and had the South Koreans pinned in defence in the early minutes but could not make much headway.

But it was South Korea who opened scoring in the 3rd minute when Kang Moon Kyu deflected a set piece initiated by Lim Woo Geun.

Korea had another two penalty corners but this time Malaysian keeper Abdul Hakim Adnan refused to be beaten pulling off saves in quick succession.

Malaysia were awarded a penalty corner in the 21st minute but Faizal Saari’s attempt was charged down by Kim Kyung Hun who injured himself in the process.

Though Malaysia tried to raise their game in the second half, it was Korea who dealt the killer blow when Jeong Yun Sang scored off their sixth penalty corner in the 54th minute.

Defending champions Argentina outclassed Russia 9-3 to sound their intentions of retaining the trophy.

Argentina scored through Guido Martin Barreiros Lopez ( 14th, 30th, 31st, 66th minutes), Agustin Mazzili (26th and 49th minutes), Nahuel Salis (9th minute), Leonardo Tolini (23rd minute), and Juan Cruz Agulleiro (63rd minute).

Russia got their goals via Nikolay Yankun ( 61st and 70th minutes) and Alexey Mayorov (33rd minute)

Pakistan notched their second win in as many days as they overcame a defensive Egypt side 3-0.

Haseem Khan scored twice, in the 46th and 54th minutes to take his tournament tally to five goals. The other Pakistani goal was scored by Khasif Ali in the 50th minute.

Meanwhile in Singapore, Holland notched up their second win, this time handing Poland a 7-2 trashing while Australia defeated Chile 4-0.

India handed joint hosts Singapore a lesson in hockey, scoring 10 goals past the hapless islanders while Germany scored its second win in successive days, winning 4-0 against South Africa