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Hockey Preview: Kookaburras v Argentina

 

Hockey Preview: Kookaburras v Argentina

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Kookaburras celebrate

HOCKEY: THE Kookaburras will embrace a ‘smart and patient’ approach in a bid to outplay reigning Olympic champions Argentina in their third Pool match at Oi Hockey Stadium today. 

With two wins under their belt, the number one ranked Kookaburras go into the match with confidence, but head coach Colin Batch has emphasised the importance of controlling the game if they are to emerge victorious. 

Argentina is unbeaten in their opening two matches, finishing 1-1 with Spain followed by a 2-1 victory over host nation Japan in an evenly fought second-round encounter. 

“Argentina has very strong attacking players and we know how tough they are on the penalty corners; those are two areas we need to control and deny,” Batch said. 

“We will have enough ball possession, but we can’t fall into the trap of Argentina controlling where we need to play the ball. 

“We need to be smart with the ball, be patient about what we do with it, but we don’t want to slow the game down, we want to play it at our speed.” 

The two sides have met on seven occasions with the Kookaburras recording four wins, two draws and one loss dating back to 1976.  

The Kookaburras’ strategy ‘to build into the tournament’ has been reflected on the scoresheets with a 5-3 win over Japan and 7-1 thumping of India. 

Batch identified the improvement between the two matches as encouraging; his aim to put the team on track to put themselves into the medal playoffs.  

The Kookaburras, bronze medallist in Beijing 2008 and London 2012, are hoping to repeat the performance from the 2004 Games where they won gold. 

Tokyo 2020 Hockey - full schedule and results  

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Men’s Hockey  

Argentina v Kookaburras  

Tuesday 27 July 2021  

Oi Stadium, Tokyo  

Start time: 9.30am local (10.30am AEST)  

Broadcast: LIVE on 7Plus  

Kookaburras v Argentina Overall Record 

Played 57; Kookaburras 43, Draws 5, Argentina 9 

Last time they met 

7-Mar-20 FIH Pro League (Perth) 

Kookaburras 5 (Simmonds 10', Govers 24'/30', Wickham 44' Mitton 49') 

Argentina 1 (Tolini 57') 

Kookaburras squad: 1.Lachlan Sharp, 2.Tom Craig, 5.Tom Wickham, 6.Matthew Dawson, 10.Josh Beltz, 11.Eddie Ockenden, 12.Jake Whetton, 13.Blake Govers, 14.Dylan Martin, 15.Josh Simmonds, 16.Tim Howard, 17.Aran Zalewski, 22.Flynn Ogilvie, 23.Daniel Beale, 25.Trent Mitton, 29.Tim Brand, 30.Andrew Charter (gk), 32.Jeremy Hayward  

Kookaburras Schedule (full hockey competition schedule

Wednesday 28 July (9.15pm local, 10.15pm AEST)  

Kookaburras v New Zealand  

Friday 30 July (10.00am local, 11.00am AEST)  

Kookaburras v Spain  

Catriona Dixon

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