England 3 Brazil 6 (half time 1-3)
Due to our group being crossed with group D (know as group of dead - France, Italy, Germany and Brazil) we played one of top 6 team of the world to predict position for 9th - 12th or 13th - 16th.
In 4 games we played 3 games (Chile, Portugal and Brazil) against 3 the top 6 in the world which made extremely difficult task to achieve the position we deserved.
Regarding this game we start with very good man to man restricted and scored the opening goal from set move. The team was in control of the game until a couple of distractions cost us 2 goals. We then made our life harder as we had to try push more to get goals back. However we conceded another before half time due to lack of experience. The majority of the first half was solid hockey. The second half we started badly in the first 5 minutes we went down 5-1. Then we called time out and rectified positions and tactics and we have seen the best of England finishing the game very strong with 2 goals and a couple balls hitting the post.
England 13 Australia 2 (8-2)
Winning this game put us to play for the best position we could achieve 13th place.
The best tactical performance of the team and showed a lot of confidence in defence and attack organizations and potential for the future.
England had the game in control during the whole match. Again 5/6 goals from set up moves or direct instructions from the bench.
England 4 South Africa 3 (half time 2-1)
We got 13th place which is the best we could aim for after the very hard draw we got.
This morning the team started with lack concentration. Due to a very good performance yesterday the team played this game very relax showing South Africa lack of respect. It was poor performance in man to man restricted as the players did not follow the instructions and were diving every where.
However the superiority individual and tactical of our team helped to win the game in the last 30 seconds.
Summary:
We came to this competition with team for a 3 years project. In this team we had 7 players born in 1990 (first year junior) to ensure in the next worlds (2009) we will have a very competitive team to aim for top 8 in the world.
Team spirit (Management and players) off the rink was very good with daily program followed everyday to schedule.
Overall picture we played 6 games winning 3 and losing 3 with goal difference +14 (scored 45 and conceded 31) which showed that the calendar of international competitions has to be revised regarding the cross over of the groups.
Well done and the future of English Roller Hockey looks promising.
Carlos Amaral & Darrel Pearce
