Hockey: Crunch day for NZ team

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Fuming New Zealand hockey players were sent off to take their frustrations out on a bigger ball on the Olympic village green on Tuesday.

A crowd of athletes of all shapes and nationalities gathered to watch the Kiwi hockey stars kicking the stuffing out of a soccer ball.

The New Zealanders felt it was the best way to vent the anger still lurking from the night before, when they were robbed of victory by a bizarre umpire call in the dying seconds against Spain.

"We had to get it [Monday night] out of our system," said the Kiwis' assistant manager, Selwyn Maister.

"The girls can come back, we know they can. They've done it before, they've shown tremendous resilience after huge disappointments in the past.

"But it's hard after the huge extreme of emotions they went through."

At 5.30pm (NZ time) on Wednesday the New Zealanders must beat world No 4 Argentina for a shot at Olympic gold. But before they even take the field, they will almost know their fate.

A place in the final on Friday against Australia, the world champions and Olympic legends, also depends on the midday game between the Netherlands and Spain.

The Kiwis could end up anywhere - from a gold medal to sixth place.

The permutations go like this:

If New Zealand win and the Netherlands beat Spain, New Zealand will play Australia for gold on Friday.

If the Kiwis win and Spain win, then New Zealand must settle for playing Argentina for bronze.

If New Zealand draw, they could still make the bronze play-off, dependent on a Spanish victory.

If New Zealand lose and Spain lose, the Kiwis are out of medal contention.

A loss could still put New Zealand into the bronze match. Once again, depending on a Spanish win, it would leave the Kiwis in a countback with China for the fourth spot.

New Zealand beat Argentina in a three-test series on the eve of the Olympics.

But the Argentines are on a roll after wins over the Netherlands and China in the past three days.

"I still think our team can do it," said Maister. "They have such a huge resolve as a result of what happened last night.

"And they deserve it ... they've done so much over the last 18 months."

Of course, the 16-strong New Zealand team are nearing exhaustion after playing six tests in 11 days.

They have been amazingly injury-free in Sydney - a result of building up their aerobic base over the summer, they say.

"But it has still been incredibly demanding on them," said Maister. "The way they ran and ran against Spain was outstanding - now they have to do it all over again.

"But we have no fears, they are in good shape."

The New Zealanders were urged to try to forget the last 18 seconds of Monday night's 2-2 draw, when a British umpire penalised the Kiwis for time-wasting, allowing the Spaniards to score on the final whistle.

The draw made it tougher for the New Zealanders to make the cut to play for a medal, but ensured the Spanish a top-four place.

"Coming into these Olympics, Spain had no expectations of making the top six, now they're in a medal match," said Maister.

"All because an umpire couldn't cope with the pressure. It's quite sickening really."