Spain 1
New Zealand 0
KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand men's hockey team expertly masked their frustrations after their Olympic campaign was compromised by a Spanish winner with just two seconds remaining in a dramatic group match.
New Zealand, the 12th and final qualifier for Beijing, were within touching distance of sneaking a point off
the world's No 4 ranked nation, only for Santiago Freixa to evade an otherwise impregnable Paul Woolford to score the first legitimate goal of the match with the final shot at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium.
An off-balance Freixa's reverse stick shot from an acute angle gave the Spaniards a deserved win, and ensured they are the only team with a perfect record in pool A after Belgium drew 1-1 with Germany earlier.
Another surprise outcome looked possible after New Zealand battled back from adversity only to be cruelly exposed on the break when a stalemate loomed.
In contrast to the women's team, whose coach Kevin Towns accused the match officials of bias after two late German goals overturned a 1-0 deficit on Tuesday night, men's coach Shane McLeod was conciliatory despite the Black Sticks having three goals disallowed.
Only one goal was actually debatable and McLeod was philosophical, citing New Zealand's golden goal defeat of Argentina in February to illustrate the sport's fickle nature.
"You've got to take the knocks with all the good things. We did a similar thing to Argentina to qualify, it's all part of the game."
McLeod had no issue about Ryan Archibald's 10th-minute goal being disallowed but believed the officials should have awarded New Zealand another penalty corner instead of giving Spain possession.
The real gripe, again treated diplomatically, was the ruling out of what the New Zealanders claim was a legal goal for Gareth Brooks.
In a dramatic 60-second interlude, Brooks believed he had fairly found the net but the whistle had already been blown - to award the penalty corner that Archibald ultimately "scored" from.
"I think that was a fair goal," said McLeod of Brooks' effort.
"That was poor advantage from the umpire. He had blown the penalty corner or was in the process of blowing when it went in. It's a tough one, but again it happens in sport."
Captain Archibald had no problem with his strike being rubbed out as he inadvertently controlled the ball with his body after Shea McAleese's shot ricocheted off Spanish goalkeeper Francisco Cortes.
"It was correct not to award the goal but we should have been awarded another penalty corner because it hit me high on the body," he said.
While the refereeing might have been questionable, Spain also experienced misfortune when two shots cannoned off a post on the rare occasion Woolford was beaten.
The goalkeeper produced another strong defensive effort both from the Spanish set piece and open play.
"This is the best I've seen him play," McLeod said. "He gives us the possibility to punch above our weight, if we'd managed a win or a draw most of it would have been credited to him."
Woolford was immense in the first period as New Zealand resisted wave after wave of Spanish attack.
His display was reminiscent of the opening match against South Korea, where he kept New Zealand in range before a Hayden Shaw hat-trick orchestrated a 3-1 victory.
Crucially Shaw was not as dominant last night, being confined to a solitary drag flick attempt.
Underlining Spain's dominance, they were awarded six penalty corners to two. They eventually registered 17 shots to New Zealand's four, indicating a draw might have been a fortuitous outcome for the Black Sticks.
"Halfway through the first half I'd have been happy with a point," McLeod said, although New Zealand were more impressive after the break.
They found the net courtesy of Dean Couzins but his drive from a penalty corner hit the net above the backboard and was correctly denied.
New Zealand face the buoyant Belgians tonight, where the three points anticipated are now essential.
- NZPA