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Hello and welcome to the opening game of the Tournament! It's France vs. the Netherlands on the menu - tasty! |
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It's brilliant Hockey weather today, bright and sunny, just perfect conditions. |
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The anthems... |
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The teams form their circles and push up themselves... |
| 0' |
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start! |
| 1' |
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First attack of the french over the left side, but the ball misses the goal by inches |
| 2' |
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France again...! First good save by the dutch goalie Vogels. |
| 4' |
1:0 |
And GOOOOOOOAL! The first shot on goal hits the target. Rob Reckers with an argentinian backhand. |
| 6' |
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Short corner for France |
| 6' |
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The french fail to control the ball and lose the ball |
| 9' |
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The French look determined to equalise. Actually they look much sharper than the Netherlands, whose tactic seems to be to try to be successfull with counter attacks. |
| 11' |
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Nice combination over the right side by the Netherlands. But the attack gets stuck in the circle. |
| 11' |
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de Nooijer over the left side - it's his 296th cap today! |
| 12' |
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If the Netherlands make it to the final, de Nooijer will hit the benchmark of 300 caps! |
| 13' |
2:0 |
Cold as ice: Taeke Taekema seals the 2:0 with a short corner flick |
| 15' |
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Poor French, their efforts lead to nowhere, while the Netherlands used their chances by 100 % |
| 17' |
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Another chance for the Netherlands, they grow stronger |
| 18' |
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Although their team leads, the Dutch fans remain quiet |
| 19' |
3:0 |
Another short corner for the Netherlands brings the third goal of the day - Taekema choses the lower left corner |
| 20' |
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Penalty stroke for France! |
| 21' |
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...but unlucky: Durchon hits the crossbar |
| 22' |
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France with another short corner |
| 23' |
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For the first time some fans chant for the French |
| 23' |
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The flick is saved again - not too difficult though, it went right to the middle of the goal |
| 24' |
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France attacks again, green card for Taekema and another french penalty corner |
| 26' |
3:1 |
Very nice play by the French: Instead of hammering the corner towards the goalie, a french player does a solo, Verrier gives the final punch |
| 28' |
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Now also the Dutch fans wake up |
| 31' |
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That WOULD have been a fantastic goal for the Dutch, but the umpire stops the game shortly before the tip-in |
| 33' |
4:1 |
Counter-attack by the Netherlands, the first shot on goal is almost saved by the French defender, but Klaver dives and moves the ball over the line |
| 34' |
4:2 |
Brave France! Matthieu Durchon replied instantly with a low shot |
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Halftime |
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The great favourite leads by two goals against surprisingly strong French, who really deserve more in this game. Right now the pitch is being watered, bright smiles on duch faces. The president of the German Hockey Federation gives an interview and congratulates the hosting club, ATV Leipzig 1845 for the 160th jubilee and a very good job organising this event. |
| 35' |
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start off for the second half |
| 41' |
5:2 |
Goal over the left side, Klaver with his second goal |
| 55' |
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The Netherlands failed to capitalize from two corners |
| 56' |
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Sorry for the delay - technical problems with the network |
| 57' |
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Both teams cope with each other, chances are about equal |
| 59' |
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There are about 1000 people in the audience for the opening game. The stadium is concipated for 5000 people. |
| 60' |
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The players seem to have slowed down, so the Dutch audience starts to play the trumpet |
| 61' |
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Chance for de Nooijer, he gets out a penalty corner |
| 61' |
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The flick goes over the crossbar |
| 64' |
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The Dutch controll the game, but with only as much effort as needed |
| 64' |
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Penalty corner for France, the Dutch defense seemed to sleep |
| 65' |
5:3 |
A big cheer for the French goal by Soyez. A blistering low shot hits the board. |
| 68' |
5:4 |
A couple of mistakes brings the French back into the game. Taekema loses the ball and Duchon used this chance, although he didn't hit the ball as he intended. |
| 69' |
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The French fans sense a surprise. |
| 70' |
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Almost equalizer, the French player misses the goal by inches. |
| 71' |
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The Netherlands seem to be nervous. |
| 72' |
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We can hear the French audience "Allez-les bleues!" |
| 73' |
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20 seconds to go - penalty corner for the French |
| 74' |
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Soyez misses |
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What a breathtaking finish of the opening game! The french were close to the sensation and the Dutch feeled it. In the end a deserved victory for silver-medalists of Athens. We hope you feel well informed and visit our site for the next minute-to-minute match report at 13:00 CET, when Spain meets Poland. |
