Hockey: Game of patience vital in bid for Olympics spot

By DAVID LEGGAT

New Zealand are preparing for a game of patience as they seek to maintain their winning run in the men's Olympic qualifying tournament in Madrid against Belgium tonight.

Having opened with a 1-0 win over Malaysia, they produced a far stronger performance to beat Canada 4-2 yesterday.

Victory over the defensively minded Belgians will put them in a strong position to secure a trip to Athens in August without having to go through the nerve-jangling crossover playoff games next week.

A top-two finish ensures a ticket to the Games. New Zealand share top spot in their pool with Pakistan after yesterday's second round of games.

Captain Simon Towns believes the good vibes running through the team bode well for the Belgium game. "We trust in what we can do," he said. "If we play to our ability we will qualify, I firmly believe that. But if we slip up for a moment at this tournament it can cost us."

World No 14 Belgium, who drew 1-1 with India in their opener, lost 2-0 to world No 5 Pakistan yesterday, but Towns pointed out the Pakistanis could not break down the committed Belgian defence until the last 15 minutes. "Belgium did pretty well. They are very well disciplined, very defensive and we're going to have to play with huge patience and not let ourselves get frustrated, because it's likely we will have a lot of possession."

New Zealand, ranked 11th in the world, were 4-0 up against Canada, who are four places lower in the rankings, midway through the second spell.

But after having key midfielder Ryan Archibald temporarily sent off late in the second half, they went into their shell, lost some of their structure and conceded two late goals by Canadian captain Rob Short and Ravinder Kahlon.

Two goals apiece from Darren Smith and Phil Burrows ensured the win and the way the goals were scored gave New Zealand plenty of encouragement.

The first came from a penalty corner where New Zealand cleverly used a variation on master blaster Hayden Smith taking the direct shot. Instead, he slipped the ball outside the righthand post and Smith deflected it in.

"In every game against Canada - and we've had eight in the last two years - Hayden has flicked every corner," Towns said. "We took them by surprise and it was really well executed."

Burrows got the second, in off the underside of the bar from a free hit outside the circle.

Smith's second, two minutes after halftime, rammed home the advantage and the fourth, from a Burrows backhand shot, came after New Zealand were down to 10 men.

Towns said the pitch, far superior to that used for the Malaysian game, contributed to the performance.

"It let us play the game as we wanted to, and we'd got our nerves out of our system."

In the other pool game yesterday, India beat Malaysia 5-3 and must now beat Pakistan tonight.

Defeat will push New Zealand - assuming they fulfill their part of the deal by beating Belgium - a giant step closer to Athens ahead of their back-to-back games against the Asian powerhouses early next week.

The Belgian game will also have special significance for Wellington attacker Umesh Parag, who will line up in his 200th international.