Spain thrashes Great Britain, 8-1, in the Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy
In one of the few sensational games of the Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy, Spain registered eight goals against the solitary notch of Great Britain, winning the second match of the tournament, and securing a berth among the top four teams.
The one-sided game was played at the North Harbour Hockey Stadium, in Auckland, New Zealand.
The two teams entered the field holding impressive records, however, the day belonged to the Spanish squad and it took full advantage of it.
Both, Great Britain and Spain, had one victory and one loss to their credit when they set out to meet each other in the third day of the event.
Great Britain outplayed Pakistan by 2-1, while was beaten by Australia, 4-1, in the second match of the championship.
The Spanish team lost the first match to Australia by 3-2, before outclassing Pakistan by 4-2, in the second encounter.
Great Britain’s Chief Hockey Coach, Jason Lee, was not happy over the performance his team showed in the game.
He observed, “We were very, very poor we physically and technically couldn't cope.” He further stated that the Spanish squad was awarded a couple of goals comfortably.
He added, “The British have a great deal of pride and we've dented it quite severely today”.
The two line-ups started the game in quite a fast and a furious manner, accomplishing attacks against each other. However, the early part of the game belonged to Great Britain.
Barry Middleton opened the score-account for Great Britain, converting a short corner in the 18th minute of play. It was the point where the British were dominating the rivals, Spain, on the field.
However, it was the only goal of the Brits during the two halves of play, as the remaining game belonged to Spain.
With 24 minutes into the first half of play, Eduard Tubau brought his team into the score-net, scoring the first goal of the day from the field.
In the later time, Pau Quemada, Santi Freixa and Gabriel Dabanch scored one goal each in the 25th, 29th and 31st minutes, respectively, for Spain.
The second half of play went in Spain’s favour completely, as the Spanish players acquired four unanswered goals in the thirty-five minutes of play.
Juan Fernandez, Santi Freixa, Eduar Tubau and Roc Oliva notched one goal each in the 44th, 66th, 67th and 70th minutes, sealing the victory for Spain, by 8-1.
Great Britain conceded the biggest margin defeat of the Champions Trophy.
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