Hockey: NZ dresses up for China clash

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

It's sexy, but not all of the New Zealand women's hockey team are comfortable in the slinky new Olympic frock they will reveal tonight.

The Kiwis will walk out on the Sydney Olympic pitch for their game against China in a stunning little black-and-silver number that could serve them well both on the field or at a cocktail party.

The New Zealanders were annoyed they could not debut the new dress in their opening 1-1 draw with Germany on Saturday.

Officials ruled they had to wear their alternate strip - in royal blue - because the Germans had a touch of black in their shifts.

Some of the New Zealand players are a bit sheepish about the new look - they think the top-of-the-thigh hemline is just too short.

Fullback Sandy Bennett is a fan of the dress - relieved that her stick will no longer get tangled in her skirt. But she can understand her teammates' worries.

"We had no say in the length. The dresses just arrived, already made," she said.

"Even though we're not supposed to, some of the girls will probably wear bike shorts underneath. But if it makes them comfortable, why not?

"It's not just us, either.

"I know the Germans weren't happy with their dresses - they were really short."

Like most New Zealand athletes, the hockey players take a lot of pride in wearing the black and silver.

However, the blue did not bring them bad luck on opening day - in fact, they scored their first ever point in Olympic history with the draw.

Previously, New Zealand had a dismal record of 13 straight losses, from the 1984 and 1992 Games.

What they really want tonight is their first win, but they will need more than a pretty dress to beat the athletic Chinese team.

Yesterday, China beat the Netherlands 2-1.

"It will be a very physical match," said New Zealand's assistant coach, Selwyn Maister.

"The Chinese swarm around the ball, making it very congested. It will be tough."

The New Zealanders have shown they have the resolve to wriggle out of tight fixes, as they did a couple of times against Germany.

They demonstrated this by scoring the equalising goal in the last two minutes of the match.

And there was the spectacular double-diving save of goalkeeper Helen Clarke in a penalty stroke confrontation with one of the sport's legends, Britta Becker.

The score was 0-0, halfway through the second spell, when fullback Rachael Petrie accidentally stopped the ball with her body on the goal-line, a capital offence in hockey.

Clarke tried to unnerve Becker by walking around and looking at the crowd, but the Kiwi had the German sussed even before she stepped up to the ball.

"I've studied her before, and I had an inkling she would put it to my top right," Clarke said afterwards.

"I felt it come off my stick glove, but then I don't know what happened.

"I remember seeing Britta's face watching the ball - looking like she wanted to start cheering - so I realised it wasn't over."

The ball was still bobbling towards the goal, until Clarke dived to her left and smothered it.

The jubilant New Zealanders then smothered Clarke, but it was a short-lived celebration - Heike Laetzsch scoring from a perfectly executed penalty corner move that had Clarke beat.

The Kiwis clinched four consecutive corners in the dying minutes, scoring off their final chance when outstanding midfielder Tina Bell-Kake's push was deflected by striker Mandy Smith, the pick of the New Zealand forwards.

German Berti Rauth thought both teams were happy to draw. New Zealand's Jan Borren declared both sides were disappointed.

You just can't win them all.