Argentina versus Netherlands: 2011 Rabo Women FIH Champions Trophy Finals – Preview
The women’s hockey team of Argentina is set to play against Netherlands in the title-claiming match of the 2011 FIH Champions Trophy (Women) at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amsterdam, Holland, on July 03, 2011.
Argentina
Argentina, the World Champions after making a successful appeal, has qualified for the finals of the Champions Trophy. It will face the host, Netherlands, in the title-claiming clash of which it lost the Pool C game by a single goal 2-1.
In the way to finals, the defending champions played five matches. It won three games, drew one and lost one game each in the Pool A and C schedule. It opened the tournament against England by a 1-0 victory, while thrashed China by three goals 4-1 in the
second contest. The fixture between Korean and Argentinean women concluded with both the teams at 1-1.
Unfortunately, the reigning champions failed to mark a win against Netherlands in the Pool C game. However, they revved them up, outplayed New Zealand by a couple of goals, 3-2, and confirmed their spot in the finals.
It is worth mentioning here that the Las Leonas (Argentina) are standing on the verge of 4th consecutive victory in the Champions Trophy. The Las Leonas failed to show best performance in penalty-corner conversions, as it scored off only two short-corners
out of total fifteen earned in the last five appearances.
Netherlands
Netherlands, the team standing at the second place in the world ranking, is also quite optimistic to get Las Leonas down in finals of the eight-nation tournament. From beginning of the event, they showed best performances and maintained their winning-streak.
It is the only undefeated squad of the mega event. On the way to finals, it cruised past Hockeyroos at 3,-0 while managed a single goal 2-1 victory against Germany. In the later competitions, the Dutch women drew a game against New Zealand. However, they reorganised
their spirit and broke the winning-streak of Las Leonas in the Pool C match. It edged past Argentinean women by a single goal, 2-1, but it boosted the players’ morale a lot. In the final match of the Pool C, the home-side whitewashed Korea by 2-0 and topped
the score-board with an undefeated track-record.
The Dutch women will have to show marvellous performance in order to lift the 6th edition of the Champions Trophy. It is worth mentioning here that the Netherlands conceded only a couple of goals in the last five appearances.
Players to Watch
From the Dutch team, Kim Lammers, Maartje Paumen and Carlijn Welten are expected to shine out in the final game of the tournament. From the other side, Agustina Soledad Garcia and Luciana Aymar will have to put an outstanding show-off against the Dutch side.
Head-to-Head Statistics
The previous track record of Netherland against Argentina is quite unimpressive, as it lost four games out of last five. The Las Leonas outplayed Dutch women two times in the Champions Trophy and once in the World Cup. However, the Netherlands won the game
against Argentina in the just-played 2011 Champion Trophy fixture.
Prediction
As per the previous game-history, the final between Argentina and Netherlands is expected to be a head-to-head meeting. However the Las Leonas will mark a 2-1 victory over the host squad.
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