The New Zealand men's team bounced back from a disappointing first-up practice match against hosts Pakistan to beat Olympic bronze medallists Germany 4-1 in Lahore yesterday.
"We certainly played a lot better than we did against Pakistan," New Zealand coach Kevin Towns said last night.
He was far from happy
after losing 5-0 in a match played over three 25-minute spells a day earlier.
"Against Germany we played only two 25-minute spells but we stepped up. To be fair, they only arrived yesterday but it was still a lot better.
"I'm a lot happier," Towns said. "We had only one penalty corner which we scored from and also managed three field goals."
Towns was encouraged by Ryan Archibald's return to action. Ryan missed the Olympics after failing to recover from a broken leg.
"Ryan is getting stronger and stronger," Towns said. "He has had a lot of turf time in both games and scored from the penalty corner against Germany.
"He is running freely but is not quite there yet. But, having said that, I'm sure he will be available for selection against Olympic silver medallists Holland in our first game on Saturday."
North Harbour's Darren Smith is the only player under an injury cloud after requiring surgery on an injured finger after being hit by a stick. Towns hopes he will be fit by the weekend.
The other goals were scored by Gareth Brooks and Lloyd Stephenson (deflections) and Mitesh Patel (from the top of the circle).
Confined to their hotel as part of a strict security regime, the New Zealand players have had little to do other than practice, which they have done twice a day.
"We could have stayed home and done most of our preparation there," Towns said.
"But I feel we are better off being here. It is a new turf which is different than anything we have played on.
"We have made the most of the time we have had. It is not easy. Often we can't get on to the turf until quite late because of morning mist and fog and by 5pm it is dark. There are no lights."
New Zealand face a difficult start to their campaign with Saturday's opener against the Dutch followed 24 hours later by the match against the hosts. They then play Spain, Germany and India, who have replaced Australia at the tournament.
