The 10-0 win gives the Dutch junior team self-confidence ahead of the clash with Australia

Australia will face the Dutch youth team’s main competitor in the 21st World Cup finals in Chile on Wednesday at 4:00 pm Dutch time. As part of training, national coach Dave Smolinarz’s team played a final practice match on Monday. Confidence was built against poor New Zealand with a 10-0 win.

Netherlands Juniors played New Zealand for nearly sixty minutes on Monday afternoon, but sometimes the ball is just an afterthought. The majestic peaks of the Andes Mountains rise above the stands on the long eastern side of Santiago’s hockey arena. You have a nice view of it from the main platform on the other side. Mountain peaks are like magnets to your eyes.

However, it cannot be due to the circumstances of the Dutch junior team, which is searching for its fifth world title. The blue rug looks like a pool rag. Hockey field, that Field Hockey CenterIt is located in the sporting heart of the city. From the main amphitheater, the skyline is colored not only by mountain peaks, but also by countless lampposts. Not only hockey is played here, but thirteen other sports are also played. For example, from the hockey stadium you can see its features behind the goal from the north side, a stone’s throw away National stadiumThe huge stadium where the Brazilian national football team won the world title in 1962.

Here in this multifunctional sports complex, he Parquet Follower National stadiumRecently, the Pan American Games were held (October 20 – November 5). There are clothes everywhere and flags flying as a reminder of that. Walking through the fields gives you an Olympic feeling. You can go from hockey to BMX and swimming in no time. The temporary bleachers erected along the hockey field for the Pan American Games were not demolished after the finals, but fortunately they are still there. Of course, it remains to be seen how full they will be as of Wednesday. But at least it gives the hockey field some color.

Hockey stadium in Santiago with Andes peaks in the background.

Isis van Loon hat-trick

The Dutch junior team went through their to-do list in their final training match before the start of the World Cup finals on Monday. A boost from a corner kick to build some confidence? Check! Tilburg defender Mickey Roberts pushed the ball hard onto the board. A goal for striker Jeb Dickie for the good feeling? Check! She even made two. First hat-trick? Check! Isis Van Loon managed to score three times. And above all, do you keep a clean sheet at the back? That worked too. Just like last week, when the Netherlands defeated the United States 7-0 in an abbreviated practice match.

Defender Noor van den Nieuwenhove from Kampung believes the Netherlands are perfectly prepared to defend their world title: “This has been a good rehearsal. We have become increasingly in tune with each other. Our press in particular is in good shape. We won a lot of balls with that. “So, we know what to do with the ball next. We reward ourselves. Now we hope we can continue this trend in the group stage. Our goal, of course, is to win the world title.”

Australia’s players have already played more than 170 international matches

It is clear that the Dutch junior team will face the strongest opponent in the group on Wednesday, which is Australia. Seven players from the Australian national team have already played for the first team Hockey. They have already played more than 170 international matches. Not just in the IPL, but some of them also in the 2022 World Cup, where Australia won the bronze medal.

“Australia undoubtedly has a good team. But we rely on our own qualities,” says Van den Nieuwenhove confidently. “We do not benefit from the result of this practice match, but we benefit from the confidence we have gained. We’ll take that with us into Wednesday. we are ready.’

Divide the group

Match schedule

These times are Dutch times. In Santiago, it’s four hours early.