Argentina face New Zealand in Women’s Hockey World League final

Rosario, December 12, 2015: New Zealand have made the final of a major international competition for the first time in three attempts today as they beat Germany 2-1 in the first semi-final of the Argentina Hockey World League Final being played here.

In other semifinal, Argentina chalked out 1-0 win over China to set up final showdown with New Zealand.  Now, Germany and China will contest 3rd/4th play-off.

In another match, Netherlands defeated Australia 1-0 to finish fifth; Great Britain scored five against Korea to finish seventh.

Goals from Kirsten Pearce and Liz Thompson were enough to beat Germany and book a place in the final. Eileen Hoffmann scored Germany's goal.

"To be honest it did cross our mind that Germany can come back in the latter stages of a match," said Sally Rutherford, the New Zealand goalkeeper. "But, we are so happy, we have a habit of finishing fourth in these major competitions, so this was an important hurdle to get over."

Meanwhile, German defender Nina Hasselmann said: "We are very disappointed. We had a good first half, but then let things slip in the following three quarters.

"We will watch the other semi-final [between Argentina and China] to see who we will be playing. And we will have a plan for that match."

Argentina took an early lead against China in the second semi-final of the day.

The goal came from a penalty corner that was slid home by Maria Campoy.

The world number three side then played a predominantly defensive game to prevent a China counter-attack.

For both teams it was a case of defending their circle and relying on speedy breaks to catch their opponents out of position.

Speaking after the game, a delighted Argentina captain, Carla Rebecchi, said: "It was a tough match but we played well. We were very pleased to concede no penalty corners as China have a great penalty corner routine. We would have liked to have scored more, but the important thing was to score a goal and not let that lead go.

"We have some new young players who have learnt a lot in this event. It is really important to use events like this in preparation for Rio with these young players."

Meanwhile China captain Cui Qiuxia said she was devastated because the team had worked so hard. They would now have to pick themselves up for the 3rd/4th play-off against Germany.

Team manager Zhao Xiaoyu added: "The team all had jobs to do and they all did them very well but Argentina are the third best team in the world and that was a tough game."

In the earlier classification matches, world number one side Netherlands defeated the world number two side, Australia, by a one goal margin after Lidewij Welten scored from a rebound after Eva de Goede had burst through the Australian defence to set up her teammate.

Australia worked hard to get back into the game, but found the Netherlands on top of their defensive duties and in no mood to concede the lead. The result means the Netherlands finish in fifth place, while Australia placed sixth.

Great Britain made certain of seventh place when they scored five past Korea. Nicola White opened and finished the scoring, with Ellie Watton, Helen Richardson-Walsh and Hannah MacLeod all finding the net. Han Hye Lyoung scored a consolation goal for Korea. 

RESULTS

7/8th place: Great Britain v Korea 5-1

5/6th place: Netherlands v Australia 1-0

Semi-final 1:Germany v New Zealand  1-2

Semi-final 2: Argentina v China 1-0

FIH Press release