ABN AMRO Champions Trophy 2010: Australia beat Belgium in practice match
Australia thrashed Belgium in a Champions Trophy practice match which was played in Belgium on Wednesday. The kookaburras had already given an advanced warning to opposition teams which are all set to face them in the upcoming Champions trophy. Australia proved that they are going into the tournament with just one intention - to win the tournament for a third time in a row. The Australian’s have won the Champions Trophy on 10 different occasions which is the highest in the world.
The ABN AMRO Champion’s Trophy is scheduled to start from the 31st of July to the 8th of August, 2010 in Monchengladbach, Germany. The top six teams from around the world will be up against each other in a round robin format which will include the Netherlands, Australia, England, Spain, New Zealand and hosts Germany.
The Kookaburras proved too good for the home side as they demolished them convincingly by 10 goals to 3. The Australians dominated the game from the word go and their dominance prevailed in both the halves. They scored 5 goals in each half to show their prowess and consistency in international hockey. Des Abbott, considered as one of the best strikers in the world, scored four goals in the match. Luke Doerner and Jason Wilson scored two goals while Chris Ciriello and Trent Mitton were the other goal scorers for the Australian side.
Australian Coach Ric Charlesworth selected a younger team for the tournament by leaving many experienced players back home. The main reason for Ric Charlesworth to make such a move was to develop the team for the 2012 London Olympic Games. This victory has definitely added more worries for the rest of the participating teams as they were expecting Australia to be an easy side after the exclusion of veteran Australian players.
England captain Barry Middleton is out of the ABN AMRO Champions Trophy starting from next week after he was ruled out after breaking his toe in a training match. Barry Middleton, who is 26 years of age, was the most experienced player in the English squad and his injury will affect the team. This is a big setback for the English side as the team will be entering the Champions Trophy without their two key players in the shape of Richard Mantell and Matt Daly.
English Coach Jason Lee is yet to name a replacement captain for the Champions Trophy but he has called 22-year-old Bowdon forward Alastair Brogdon into his 18-man squad. Lee is confident that the new combinations will work for his team. While taking to media, he said “Injuries have forced the experimental side of things on our hands, I consider it [the squad] inexperienced to a degree but it’s more experimental in what we’re trying to achieve on the pitch.”
The Netherlands on the other hand announced their squad for the upcoming ABN AMRO Champions Trophy as well. Teun de Nooijer is selected in the squad and he will make a new record by participating in the highest number of Champions Trophies till date. He will be playing in his 16th Champions Trophy in 2010 who has never missed this mega-tournament since 1995. Teun de Nooijer and his former teammate Jeroen Delmee have played in 15 Champions Trophies which will go up to 16 on 31st July, 2010 when the Dutch side plays against Spain.
Newly appointed Dutch Coach Paul van a*s has selected the veteran player in the team whereas he is in favor of including some young legs in the side for his preparations of the 2012 London Olympics. The Dutch side drew against India in Amsterdam, where they equalized in the dying minutes of the contest. They also played two hockey tests against Pakistan last week where they lost the first match and came back strongly in the second match to level the series.
The Dutch squad includes Sander Baart, Billy Bakker, Marcel Balkestein, Floris Evers, Jeroen Hertzberger, Rogier Hofman, Robert van der Horst, Roderik Huber, Mark Jenniskens, Tim Jenniskens, Wouter Jolie, Robbert Kemperman, Eby Kessing, Teun de Nooijer, Jaap Stockmann, Valentin Verga, Klaas Vermeulen, and Mink van der Weerden.
Tags: