Black Sticks Men vs. Kookaburras: Oceania Cup – Field Hockey Preview
New Zealand’s hockey team, Black Sticks Men, is set to face the Australians in the first match of the Oceania Cup at the Tasmania Hockey Centre in Hobart, Australia on October 06, 2011.
It is vital to mention here that the two teams have already qualified for the 2012 London Olympics while Fiji opted to skip the Oceania Cup.
Australia (Kookaburras)
The Australians are currently holding onto the top position in the world ranking, as they clinched gold medals back to back in the three major tournaments including World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Champions Trophy back in 2010.
It is worth mentioning here that the Australian Kookaburras are the only squad of any sport that lifted five consecutive medals in five editions of the Summer Olympics from 1992 to 2008.
Kookaburras is one of the top four teams in the Olympics Games that has two world Cup titles to its acclaim, earned in 1986 and 2010.
Furthermore the Australians consecutively won four gold medals in the Commonwealth Games in 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010.
They also lifted three one after the other titles in the Champions Trophy in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
In the recent move, the Australians had won the Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament held in Malaysia when they edged past Pakistan via a golden goal in the sudden-death overtime.
They have an impressive track record for the last several years therefore they will not face difficulty to win the mega event.
New Zealand (Black Sticks Men’s Team)
The team holding the 7th position in world ranking and second in the Oceania region does not have as impressive a track record as its neighbours, the Australians.
Although Black Sticks comprising both, senior and fresh players, has already secured a spot in the London Olympics, the team will be under tremendous pressure while facing Kookaburras.
Despite everything, they are quite determined to break the drought spell of failures which has not changed for the last 13 years.
The Men’s hockey team of New Zealand earned 9th position in the 2010 World Cup while 7th in the last version of the Olympic Games.
After winning the Champions Challenge in 2009, they failed to show good performance in the Champions Trophy in 2010 and earned sixth place.
However, they displayed a comparatively better show in the Commonwealth Games where they won a bronze medal back in 2010.
The Black Sticks will rely on the experienced names in the event in order to break the winning streak of the Australians.
Head to Head
In the last match between the two teams, the Australians edged over Black Sticks Men’s squad by 4-2 in the Azlan Shah Cup.
Australia’s Kookaburras won the tournament while the Black Sticks Men’s earned fourth position in the seven-nation invitational tournament.
In the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games, the Kookaburras won the competition by 6-2.
Prediction
Although the chances are not pretty even with both sides sitting on different levels, the Australians have a huge advantage over the Black Sticks Men’s team.
Nonetheless, the latter has the capability to make an upset in the qualifying round against the Kookaburras.
Considering the past track record of Oceania Cup and other head-to-head fixtures, the Australians have more chances to win the game.
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