Match between Czech Republic and China ends in a draw by 1-1 in FIH Champions Challenge II
The day three match between China and Czech Republic ended in a 1-1 draw that took place in Lille, France on July 05, 2011.
It is worth mentioning here that the Chinese men have two victories in hands before entering in the ground against Czech Republic. They took Austria down in the opening game, while defeated USA in the second fixture. On the other side, the Czech Republic
does not have an impressive track record, as they could only win a single game out of two, which they have played. In the first game, it edged past USA, while lost to Austria in the second competition.
China and Czech Republic landed on the field in a mature way. Though it was low-scoring event, many penetrations were made in the 70-minute of play.
The Chinese players from the very early minutes started an offensive style of play and accomplished back-to-back attacks against Czech Republic. China earned a short-corner in the 21st minute of the match. Long Sun, the 26 caps player, converted
the short-corner into the goal and put China ahead on the score-card. After an end-to-end play, the first round concluded with China leading the results at 1-0.
The second half belonged to Czech Republic, which not only displayed stiffened defence, but also marked an equalling goal. In the 53rd minute of the game, Czechs received a penalty-corner and tested Tomas Prochazka. He, having 65 international
caps, did not disappoint his squad and tied the knots at one-all. These results stayed same in the remaining time despite loads of attacks and counterattacks, therefore the game finished at 1-1 draw.
In another game played at the same venue, USA defeated Austria by a single goal, 1-0. Despite a low-scoring match, the game between Austrians and Americans was a splendid show for the spectators.
USA and Austria went on defensive style of play from the start of the match. They carried out strikes against each other, but in cautious way. Apart from all the penetrations made by the two teams, the defenders were at their best during the two periods.
Neither Austria nor USA succeeded to score a goal in the first 35 minutes and went into the second with empty hands. At last the continued efforts from USA squad delivered results and Patrick Harris converted a penalty-corner in the 44thminute
of the match. It was the turning point of the match, as USA outfit did not slip in the remaining game and won the match by 1-0.
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