Hockey: Belgians next in sights at world qualifier

By TERRY MADDAFORD

New Zealand were one of four teams to complete pool play at the men's World Cup qualifying tournament in Edinburgh with a perfect three-win record.

Their last-ditch 1-0 victory over a disappointing Welsh side in a game described by New Zealand coach Kevin Towns as dour, kept the New Zealanders firmly on course for a place in next year's cup event.

The win, which was secured two minutes from fulltime when Ryan Archibald and captain Simon Towns provided the build-up and David Kosoof a tap-in finish, ensured maximum points and a top-eight place.

India finished second in the pool, with Wales third and winless Egypt fourth.

There was little respite for the New Zealand side, who overnight played Belgium, runners-up to Argentina in pool B, in the first of their three post-section matches.

Two wins should ensure a place in the semifinals and guaranteed qualification for the 2002 World Cup in Malaysia.

New Zealand's other post-section games are against pool C winners Spain (tomorrow night) and Canada, who finished second behind Poland in pool D, on Wednesday.

"Wales were disappointing," Towns said.

"They went into the game knowing they had to beat us by two goals to have any chance of getting through, but they played the entire game with 11 players behind the ball.

"It was strange for an international side to behave like that."

Towns has already singled out Spain as the team to beat.

"They had a poor Olympics and are ranked behind India and Canada of the teams here, but they have been the form team of the tournament," Towns said.

"The game against Belgium also holds some significance because they beat us in last year's Olympic qualifying tournament in Osaka."

While New Zealand have done well defensively in getting through, conceding just one goal, in their 3-1 tournament opening win over Egypt, they have not scored many.

They knocked in five goals in three outings in what was the tightest of the four pools.

Interestingly, Bangladesh, the team given the nod ahead of New Zealand when the original list was drawn up, lost all three pool matches, conceding a tournament-high 18 goals.