Australian Hopes Lift In Time For Olympics
Illawarra Mercury
Monday August 25, 2003
AMSTERDAM - Australia's Olympic hockey stocks have risen after eye-catching performances by the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras in Amsterdam.
The Hockeyroos turned a corner when they triumphed in an emotion-charged final against the Dutch - coached by Australian great Alyson Annan - to win the women's Four Nations Cup tournament involving the world's top sides.
And the Kookaburras had the chance to make it a double Dutch treat for Australia after smashing Argentina 8-3 to reach the final of the men's Champions Trophy against a cocky Dutch team.
The Australian men, headed by newcomer Grant Schubert, have led the way in scoring with 25 goals in a Champions Trophy tournament which saw an unprecedented 109 goals scored in the 15 pool matches.
Schubert snatched another double against Argentina to take his tournament tally to nine from five games.
But the Dutch were full of swaggering confidence heading into the final, having beaten Australia 5-3 in their pool clash.
``We'll win and there'll be lots of goals," boasted Dutch coach Joost Bellaart after his team belted a below-strength Germany 6-0 to finish on top of the standings.
Kookaburras coach Barry Dancer was happy to take up the challenge as his team sought its first Trophy title since the Brisbane tournament in 1999.
``We can do better than the way we played in the round robin against the Netherlands and we'll not disappoint in the final," Dancer said.
The Australian women's success in the Four Nations Cup ranks as possibly their most significant in three years.
They've previously struggled to beat the top sides since they began rebuilding after the retirements which followed the 2000 Sydney Olympic gold medal triumph.
But coach David Bell's team showed it can be a force at the Athens 2004 Games as it silenced the home crowd by beating the Netherlands 2-1 in the final.
The victory avenged what they believed was rough justice in their final pool match on Friday when they were beaten 1-0 by the Dutch.
© 2003 Illawarra Mercury