Australia vs. New Zealand: Day 10 in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – Preview
Australia is set to play against New Zealand in the 20th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at the Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, in Malaysia today.
Australia
With a recent victory over Great Britain by 2-1, Australia has retained their top place with a total of four wins and a draw, in five of their Azlan Shah appearances.
Kookaburras were the favourite team to lift the Cup since the inaugural day of the Malaysian Invitational. The team has been performing consistently, maintaining their standard despite having many new players in the squad.
Kookaburras are World’s top-ranked team, according to the International Hockey Federation (FIH), holding a record of being the first team to win three major International hockey titles one-after-the-other, in a year. These titles were the World Cup, Commonwealth
Games and Champions Trophy of 2010.
The only title they missed was the 2010 Azlan Cup, when they finished third after defeating Malaysia in the play-off match, last year.
Australia has won a total of five gold medals at the Malaysian tournament in 1983, 1998, 2004, 2005 and 2007, along with one silver medal in 2006.
New Zealand
Black Sticks made it to the fourth rank at the seven-nation tournament, after a record-breaking 7-3, win over India.
The inaugural day did not put a good impression of the team when they lost their opening match against Pakistan, by 4-2. However, a draw with Korea and a win over Malaysia allowed them a chance to play the qualifying matches of the tournament.
The team includes a young in-experienced side that needed to build-up courage for playing against the World’s top teams. The match against the finalist team today will be a treat to watch, as Black Sticks Coach, Shane McLeod, has said that the team can make
it into the finals if they are able to defeat Australia today.
New Zealand holds a past record of four bronze-medals in the Azlan Cup of 1995, 2003, 2008 and 2009. However, they secured a gold-medal win in the 2009 Champions Challenge. Another great achievement of the team was the bronze medal won in the 2010 Commonwealth
Games that was held in New Delhi, India.
Players to watch
Australian striker, Mark Paterson has shown his ability to trouble the opponent with ease and is expected to shine-out today as well.
On the other hand, New Zealand’s Andrew Hayward was the ‘Man of the Match’ in their clash against India, when he scored two goals as a result of his fine drag-flicking expertise in penalty corners. Hayward will have to put up a good performance today against
the strong Australians, as his skills will be important in leading his team to the finals.
Head-to-head Statistics
Australia has a record of beating New Zealand in their international encounters, for the last 12 years. The last time both sides met, the Kookaburras annihilated the Black Sticks 6-2, in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Prediction
The match is expected to be a close encounter, as both teams are looking desperate to make it into the finals. Despite New Zealand’s spirited show in the tournament, Australia will head in to the match as favourites and are expected to win the contest, 4-3.
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