JOIN US'Room for improvement'
“We have been working for only 15 months. We can get much better; our real target is the London Olympics,” said Charlesworth, who was part of Australia’s only previous World Cup winning team in 1986.
Charlesworth said the pressure his team exerted had forced errors out of the Germans. “I am happy when the other team makes mistakes – that happens because of the pressure we exert. Today, we had 17 shots to their five but our finishing was not up to standard,” said the Aussie.
Australian captain Jamie Dwyer said team work did the trick. “We were better and we deserved to win. We weren’t bothered by the fact that we had lost the last two finals to Germany. This is a different scenario, different players, different German team,” he said.
German coach Markus Weise had only praise for the Aussies. “If we had converted that short corner with the scores level 1-1, things could have panned out a bit differently. But I must say we lost to a better team. The Aussies are a super side, they are physical, they are fast, they have every quality to win a tournament,” he said.
Dutch delight
Their celebrations showed how much they valued this bronze. The Netherlands might have missed out on the big prize but they were indeed happy with the third spot, and the way they shaped their comeback on the day. “In the locker room at half-time, we decided to stop thinking and start playing. When our team plays with their feelings, they can play incredible hockey, as we saw in the second half,” said the Netherlands coach Michel van den Heuvel.
Dutch captain Teun de Nooijer said the win was a nice parting gift for their goalkeeper Guus Vogel, who played his last game for his country.
“We are really proud that we could do it for Guus, send him off with a bronze medal,” said De Nooijer.