Match 5: England defeated by Netherlands fight-back
Late strikes from Maartje Paumen and Kitty van Male helped the Netherlands overturn a two-goal deficit to record a dramatic 3-2 win against Pool A rivals England in the opening match of Day 2 here in San Miguel de Tucuman.
Following presentations to England’s Nicola White (100th combined England & Great Britain appearance) and Sally Walton (100th England appearance), the Netherlands controlled the early stages and took the lead in the 6th minute thanks to a pin-point accurate penalty corner drag-flick from team captain Maartje Paumen.
The Dutch dominance continued for much of the half, but England stepped up their game and deservedly equalised two minutes before half time when Georgie Twigg got a crucial touch on a penalty corner flick from Kate Richardson-Walsh.
England started the second half with real purpose, and took the lead when a defence-splitting pass from Laura Unsworth forced an own goal. It was a lead that England held until the 67th minute, when Paumen produced another sensational penalty corner drag flick to tie the scores before the killer blow arrived a minute later when Kitty van Male netted from close range.
Match 6: Park wonder-strike gives Korea draw against Germany
A brilliant finish from ace striker Park Mi Hyun was enough to seal a deserved 2-2 draw with Germany in the second Pool A match of the day.
Germany were the better team in the first half of a lively contest, being denied on several occasions by Korea keeper Jang Soo Ji ahead of a 12th minute field goal opener from Eileen Hoffmann. Pia Oldhafer was the architect of the goal, working her way around the back of the Korean defence before laying off a perfect pass for Hoffmann to slam into the roof of the net.
Korea stormed back into the game in the 23rd minute when a beautifully worked passing move ripped through the Germany defence and created a simple tap-in for Park Mi Hyun before an own goal put Germany back in front early in the second half.
Korea dominated the latter stages of the match, but found themselves struggling to find a breakthrough. That was until ten minutes from the end of the contest, when Park Mi Hyun netted her second goal of the day with a blistering effort high into the Germany goal from a seemingly impossible angle.
Korea came agonisingly close to scoring a winner in the dying stages of the match, but top quality defending from Germany ensured that both teams would have to settle for a point.
