Lausanne, Switzerland, July10: England and Spain progressed through to the quarter-finals after two hugely contrasting matches. England put in a measured and composed performance to beat Korea convincingly. Spain, on the other hand, kept an engrossed home crowd on tenterhooks until the 57th minute. Then, once they had the lead, Head Coach Adrian Lock’s side lost two players to cards, making the final seconds even more tense.
Earlier in the day, Ireland beat a fatigued-looking South Africa, while China’s penalty corner routines finally wore down a resilient Chile side. Ireland will now meet China on 12 July in their final match of the World Cup. South Africa and Chile will also play their final matches on the same day.
In the quarter-finals England now travel to Terrassa to face Argentina, while Spain will face Australia – the team they beat to bronze in the 2018 FIH Women’s World Cup.
Ireland vs South Africa (9-16 place)
The first quarter had a sense that both teams were a little hesitant in their play, with some unforced errors and very few scoring chances. Probaby the most dangerous moment in those opening minutes came courtesy of Onthatile Zulu, whose fast running with the ball drew a save from Ayeisha McFerran after she tore through the defence and fired at goal.
South Africa started the second quarter with 10 players when Kristen Paton received a yellow card. They quickly made that advantage count when they won a penalty corner but Phumelela Mbande was alert to the slipped ball and stood up strong to make the save. There was nothing Mbande could do just a few seconds later when Sarah Hawkshaw was the final cog in a slick penalty corner routine that saw Hannah McLoughlin play the ball deliberately wide for Hawkshaw to slide into the goal.
The Irish nearly doubled their lead a few seconds later when Sarah Torrans attempted the same move on the opposite side of the goal.
Ireland doubled their lead just one minute into the second half when Roisin Upton put a lot of disguise on a penalty corner strike to beat Mbande and the South African defence. There were no further goals in the third quarter but Ireland spent much of the time defending a one player disadvantage as both Deirdrie Duke and Hawkshaw received cards.
A further yellow card for Charlotte Beggs in the fourth quarter invited more pressure from South Africa but an assured performance from McFerran and the Irish defence, combined with some uncharacteristically poor finihsing from South Africa, meant the score stayed at 2-0 and Ireland progressed to the contest for 9-12th place. South Africa will face Chile to decide 13-16th position.
Player of the Match Roisin Upton (IRL) said: ‘It wasn’t a perfect performance but we have rebuilt over the past three days. We created a lot of opportunities and finished two of them. We weren’t executing our corners in our first three games so that really became our focus. Tournaments like this are a rollercoaster. We try to stay in the moment and we will be all out for a win in our final game.’
South Africa’s Lilian du Plessis said: ‘We are disappointed in how we played today. If we had started how we finished, then we would have done better. But Ireland played well today. We will have a lot of preparation going into the next game and we will try to put right the things that we got wrong today.’
China vs Chile (9-16th place)
Two sides came out to finish their tournaments with a flourish but under the pressure to win, both sides seemed to freeze when they were in front of goal. It was China who created the most opportunities with four penalty corners in the first half and a handful of chances from open play. To the frustration of both Head Coach Alyson Annan and the platers themselves, the final shot was often wayward.
With three minutes left of the half a beautiful move between Ma Ning, Zhang Xiaoxue and Yuan Meng almost broke the deadlock as quick interchanges between the players saw Yuan Meng slide the ball inches from the Chile goal.
The second half saw much of the same for the opening minutes: China were the dominant team but couldn’t find a way through the Chile defence. The longer the match went on, the more likely it was that Chile might find a rogue goal to take the win. A shot by Manuela Urroz nearly did exactly that. The midfielder worked her way into the China circle and unleashed a shot that just fizzed past the post.
Eventually the China pressure on Claudia Schuler’s goal paid off and China scored two peanlty corners either side of the quarter time break. First Ma Ning rattled home a straight shot and then Zhong Jiaqi effectively sealed the match for China with another well-placed corner strike.
The third China goal was scored with four minutes left. The ball was slipped by Gu Bingfeng to Ma Ning, who then slipped it to Cui Qiuxia. The multi-capped defender lifted the ball high into the Chile goal to top a performance that was workmanlike and professional.
Player of the Match was Ma Ning.
One of China’s goalscorers, Cui Qiuxia said: ‘It was an amazing game. We played very well and we deserved to win. Before this game we had missed a lot of penalty corners so it was important that we got it right today. We will enjoy our last game whoever it is against.’
England vs Korea (cross-over match)
After a goalless first quarter, England discovered their scoring touch in the second quarter. Giselle Ansley scored the first of a brace when she let rip on a penalty corner, a move she repeated nine minutes later. Both goals were sent high to compensate for Lee Jinmin’s incredible ability to save anything low to the goal. In the middle of the Ansley goals, Tessa Howard scored a fantastic goal in which she stepped back to give herself some room and then fired past Lee Jinmin in the Korea goal.
Korea had a chance to come back when England put themselves under pressure with two consecutive yellow cards, given to Holly Hunt and Lily Owsley. Despite the player disadvantage, England held really firm against the Korea attack. Laura Unsworth, who celebrated a combination of 300 caps for England and Great Britain, Hollie Pearne-Webb and Anna Toman were particularly disciplined in those difficult moments.
England rediscovered their scoring ways and composure in the final minutes of the game when first Hannah Martin and then Elena Rayer got onto the scoresheet. Martin’s goal was made by Rayer, who slipped the ball to her. Rayer got a touch on a ball played into the circle by Fiona Crackles.
Player of the Match Elena Rayer (ENG) said: ‘We are really delighted with the result. We came with a job to do, to win a place in the quarter finals. It wasn’t our best performance but we did the job. Next up is Argentina and we always enjoy playing them. We will go away, prepare and then bring our best game.’
Spain vs India (cross-over match)
The opening quarter was tightly contested as would be expected from a match with so much at stake. The opening few minutes showed India’s intent as they pushed forwards but the Spanish defence held strong and took much of the sting out of the attack. From then on it was all about Spain as they explored ways to get past the India back line. In goal for India, Savita showed why she has such an international reputation as she was called into action time and again. Despite the pressure the score remained at 0-0.
Spain continued to pile on the pressure and in a moment of goalkeeping brilliance, Savita made three consecutive saves, first from a Xantal Gine penalty corner strike, then a rebound from the same player and finally a rebound from Begona Garcia. Seconds later and India had their own penalty corner but first Melanie Garcia saved Monika’s shot and then Lucia Jimenez showed immense composure to bat the rebound away.
India created a wonderful opportunity to open the scoring when Tete Salima took the ball along the baseline and slipped it back to Katariya Vandana. Her shot was dinked over the cross bar as she went to chip it over Garcia’s reach.
The second half started with India on the front foot and Spain had to stay focused to keep the Eve’s attacks at bay. Momentum shifted back and forth during the third quarter but both teams were looking increasingly frantic and mistakes were creeping into play. It was becoming increasingly clear that this was a match where just one goal could end up separating the teams. The question for both teams was how to find a way into their opponent’s net.
Both teams created early opportunities in the fourth quarter. First Sara Barrios was unmarked in front of Savita but shot wide, a lovely flowing move by India was cut out before they could find the telling shot, then Jimenez tried to juggle her way through the India defence only to meet the inpenetrable wall that is Savita.
As the ferocity of play heated up, so the big stage players started to shine. Spain’s Georgina Oliva danced through the defence and shot over the bar, Monika began to make great runs to trouble the Spanish defence.
The breakthrough goal came from Marta Segu and was as exciting and frenetic as the entire game had been. Marta Segu received a long ball from Begona Garcia. She, in turn passed to Clara Ycart. She shot and Savita saved, but Segu was following up and pounced to slap the ball home to give her team an invaluable lead with three minutes left.
Spain didn’t make the final minutes easy for themselves. Garcia received a yellow card, then Segu received a green so Spain were down to nine players for the remainder of the match.
Player of the Match Georgina Oliva (ESP) said: ‘We kept focused with our plan all the time and we tried to play our game all the time. We focused on our midfield. Having all these fans and this atmopshere makes it really great to play here.’
Quarter-final line-up
New Zealand vs Germany
Netherlands vs Belgium
Argentina vs England
Australia vs Spain
The action continues on Monday 11 July when the battle for 9-12th place continues. At 18:00 Japan will play Korea, and then at 21:30 Canada take on India. Both matches will take place in the Estadi Olimpic de Terrassa. All times are CEST.
9 July 2022 Results:
Wagener Hockey Stadium, Amstelveen (NED): Match #27; Ireland 2, South Africa 0
Player of the Match: Roisin Upton (IRL); Umpires: Aleisha Neumann (AUS), Irene Presenqui (ARG), Laurine Delforge (BEL-video)
Wagener Hockey Stadium, Amstelveen (NED): Match #28; China 3, Chile 0; Player of the Match: Ma Ning (CHN); Umpires: Annelize Rostron (RSA), Maggie Giddens (USA), Wanri Venter (RSA-video)
Estadi Olimpic de Terrassa (ESP): Match #29; England 5, Korea 0; Player of the Match: Eleanor Rayer (ENG); Umpires: Ayanna McClean (TTO), Alison Keogh (IRL), Michelle Meister (GER-video)
Estadi Olimpic de Terrassa (ESP): Match #30; Spain 1, India 0; Player of the Match: Georgina Oliva (ESP); Umpires: Sarah Wilson (SCO), Amber Church (NZL), Ivona Makar (CRO-video).
FIH press release
