Hockey World Cup Day 4 - Match 2: New Zealand vs Netherlands 0-4 

Netherlands were handed a big break inside the first 5 minutes of the game as a poor backward pass from Kane Russell was easily intercepted by Tjep Hoedemakers and he squared up the ball to captain Thierry Brinkman, who had just the keeper to beat, and his powerful shot did jus that. Netherlands added another goal in the first quarter as New Zealand substituted their keeper for an outfield player in a surprising move, which allowed Netherlands to attack the circle and find Koen Bijen who had an open goal to tap the ball into. Thierry Brinkman then added a second goal of his own before the half, as a smart deflection at the top of the circle managed to sneak past the Kiwi keeper who was brought back on in the second quarter.

New Zealand were much more composed in defence in the second half, making it a fairly even battle. But the Netherlands would not be denied. They first had the ball in the back of the goal in the final minute of quarter 3, but it was taken away for a foul in the build up. The scoreline wouldn't stay at 3-0 for long though, as Tjep Hoedemakers who was at his industrious best, got on the end of a cross by captain Brinkman to add a 4th goal in the final quarter and make it 6 points out of 6 for the Netherlands. 

Dutch captain Thierry Brinkman was awarded player of the match and said: “Happy to get 4 field goals today. We probably could have scored more to be honest, but happy overall with two wins in two.”