Hockey World Cup 2018: Two-time champion Australia progresses to semifinals

Australia has defeated France 3-0 in their quarterfinal game to progress to the semifinals of the 2018 Hockey World Cup from the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar.

Updated : Dec 12, 2018 20:30 IST

A general view of the Kalinga stadium, the venue of the 2018 Hockey World Cup.
A general view of the Kalinga stadium, the venue of the 2018 Hockey World Cup.
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A general view of the Kalinga stadium, the venue of the 2018 Hockey World Cup.

 

FULL TIME. Australia progresses to the semifinals, a 12th consecutive semis appearance for the powerhouse. Two-time defending champion will face the winner of the India vs Netherlands game, which will take place tomorrow.

58' France is back to full strength for the last two minutes of the game.

56' Australia goes with a referral to win a penalty corner but the replays aren't conclusive and it loses its referral. That won't bother it much as this game is as good as done now.

55' Australia is five minutes away from a semifinal showdown against India or Netherlands. And it is still looking to increase its lead over France, before Peiter van Straaten picks up a green card for illegally stopping an attack. That's his second green card of the tournament.

51' Daniel Beale gets a green card now and Australia is temporarily down to nine men.

49' Craig Tom picks up a green card.

 

STATS: Australia has had 20 circle penetrations, 6 shots and scored from 3 of its 5 penalty corners.

46' India or Australia awaits the winner of this match, which - barring a miracle - will be Australia. That's a semifinal you will not want to miss.

46' Australia has scored a goal in each quarter, so far. The final fifteen minutes begin, can it find a fourth? Or will there be an unlikely comeback from the French?

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45' Pieter van Straaten is found with a defence splitting pass but his shot is easily saved. And with that the third quarter comes to an end.

43' With every quarter, Australia's share of possession has increased. It has full control of the game now, dictating the tempo. And this without getting out of the first gear. Impressive stuff from the defending champion.

 

41' Not this time. The shot is deflected wide.

41' Australia with some patient play now, content with rotating possession among its players. One pass slices open the French defence though and Daniel Beale wins a penalty corner. Another goal coming?

 

37' Australia scores a third goal from its fourth penalty corner. Beautifully worked penalty corner and Aran Zakerski puts the finishing touch on the move.

37' Australia wins a penalty corner after taking a referral. It has scored from two penalty corners, is there a third goal on the way?

34' Australia with some crisp passing but Charlet with a great tackle to stop that attack.

32' France is being made to work hard to start an attack as Australia is defending from the front and giving the French players no room to look for their passes.

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30'With that, the second quarter comes to an end. Goals in each half sees Australia take a 2-0 lead into the break.

30' Victor Charlet, as expected, takes the penalty corner and a rebound is cleared after a rebound. A penalty corner is given but Australia asks for a referral as it disagrees with the call. And that was a good referral. The ball hit the bat, not the foot. And the second penalty corner gets overturned.

29' France wins a penalty corner in the dying minutes of the second quarter.

28' Tim Brand sees his shot, which was on target, get blocked by his teammate inside the circle.

27' Hugo Genestet gets a earful from the referee after he pushed the ball away after a foul was given against him.

24' Australia scored from it's previous two penalty corners but France does well to defend the third.

24' The referee takes a referral to determine if there's a push in the French box on an Australian player. The replys show an unintentional trip and that's a penalty corner for Australia.

23' So close to an opening goal for France! Aristide Coisne sees his shot cleared off the line.

19' Australia takes a 2-0 lead over France, Blake Grovers with the goal. Grovers scores with his first shot of the game.

 

18' Whetton wins a penalty corner for Australia.

17' Whetton continues where he ended the first quarter. He has popped up all over the pitch and France is finding it difficult to keep track of his runs.

 

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15'The first quarter comes to an end with Australia taking the lead. But going by what we have seen, it isn't going to be a cakewalk for the defending champion.

14' As we say that, Cristoforo Peters-Deutz with a fantastic block on Whetton.

13' France showing enough intention  by refusing to sit back and defend. It isn't just rolling over for the world number 1 side.

9' Australian keeper Tyler Lovell called into action for a routine save with his left foot.

7' Australia hits the post again, this time through Jake Whetton. France at sixes and sevens at the back. 

4' AUSTRALIA TAKES THE LEAD. Jeremy Hayward scores from the penalty corner. Hayward found space between two players and the goalkeeper to sweep home the opening goal.

 

4' Penalty corner to Australia after the ball found Francois Goyet's foot.

2' Charles Masson runs down the right wing and his ball into the circle almost found Mazimillen Branicki. A good move from France in the opening minutes.

1' Defending champions Australia gets the game underway against the a France team that's ranked 20th in the world. Mismatch?  Less than an hour after Olympic champion Argentina was stunned, it's difficult to make bets on any team so early in the game.

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• Since Australia last lost a World Cup game in 2010, it has played 16 games and won all of them. It is looking to make its way to a 11th consecutive World Cup semifinals.

 

• Here's how both the team line up:

 

• In the first game of the day, England stunned Olympic champion Argentina 3-2 to move to the semifinals. You can check out how that match happened over here.

 

• England, France, Belgium and Netherlands won their cross-over games and have progressed to the last-8. You can read the report  of their cross-over games here and here .

• The Pool stages are done and the cross-over games got over. It is time for the quarterfinals of the 2018 Hockey World Cup.

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