Hockey: Bug hits team on eve of qualifier

By DAVID LEGGAT

A bug with chronically bad timing has hit the New Zealand men's team on the eve of their Olympic qualifying tournament in Madrid.

New Zealand start their campaign in the 12-team tournament against Malaysia early tomorrow, but several in the squad have been hit by what coach Kevin Towns hopes is no more than a 24-hour version, which has had players vomiting and suffering diarrhoea.

"We're pretty right from a physical fitness point of view, but this does complicate things for sure," Towns said.

It would be a grim way to start a tournament at the best of times, but the draw adds to Towns' concerns. The first three opponents - Malaysia, Canada and Belgium, world ranked 10th, 15th and 14th - are the three games 11th-ranked New Zealand have targeted as must-wins if they are to achieve their goal of a top-two finish in pool play.

That guarantees a trip to Athens, a third or fourth finish puts them into a crossover playoff, from which three of four teams will advance.

New Zealand's other two games are against India and Pakistan, world No 6 and 5 respectively, so Towns wants points in the bank before tackling them next week.

With three points for a win, Towns has done his calculations on what is required to keep the Olympic dream alive.

"Eleven points would be enough, 10 may be enough. We'd like nine from our first three games. That would put us on the cusp and we'd still need at least one more from those last two games."

Strictly on world rankings, New Zealand are the seventh best team at the tournament. But Towns believes the rankings bear little reflection to reality and that there is only the odd goal difference between teams ranked from 5 to 25.

"One set of rankings were used to determine which teams came to the tournament, and a different set was used to rank them within the tournament. The original rankings came from the World Cup two years ago, the second set were taken off results over the last four years.

"Some teams have gathered points without even realising it, but the pools are as balanced as we've seen in a long while."

Malaysia will bring a counter-attacking approach to tomorrow's game. They are coached by a German, who has imposed a methodical, patterned style on players who traditionally prefer a skill-based game.

"They'll use the long ball up either flank, they're very good at set pieces and will pull four midfielders back into their 25 and look to get long balls up to the two high [forward] players.

"But we've got a very good chance of beating them."

His two injury worries, Darren Smith and his son and captain Simon Towns, have improved. Smith's rib cartilage is sore but on the mend and Towns is over his hip flexor problem.

Wellington forward Umesh Parag, who is just married and was a late arrival in Madrid, will have the opportunity to move towards the milestone of 200 internationals. He has played 197 tests.

Towns was coach the last time New Zealand made an Olympic men's tournament in Barcelona 12 years ago. He's an old hand at the nervy qualification game but he said that the tension was still there.

"I'm relaxed this far out but things will tighten up as time closes in.

"It doesn't get any easier. You still get nerves but that's part of the excitement, part of the reason you do it."

Getting to Athens

* The top seven in the 12-team tournament progress to the Olympics.

* If New Zealand finish in the top two in pool play they are guaranteed a trip to Athens. A third or fourth-placed finish consigns them to crossover playoff games where three of four teams advance.

* New Zealand's programme begins against Malaysia early tomorrow. Their other pool games are against Canada (Thursday), Belgium (Saturday), India (Tuesday) and Pakistan (Wednesday). The other pool consists of Britain, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and South Africa.

NEW ZEALAND SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Kyle Pontifex (Wellington), Paul Woolford (Auckland).

Defenders: Dion Gosling (Auckland), Dean Couzins (Auckland), Hayden Shaw (Canterbury).

Midfield: Simon Towns (capt, Auckland), Darren Smith (North Harbour), Wayne McIndoe (Auckland), Blair Hopping (North Harbour), James Nation (Wellington), Mitesh Patel (Wellington), Dharmesh Puna (Auckland), Ryan Archibald (Auckland).

Forwards: Lloyd Stephenson (North Harbour), Gareth Brooks (Canterbury), David Kosoof (North Harbour), Umesh Parag (Wellington), Phil Burrows (Wellington).