Germany pip Korea with golden goal

Luckless Korea, who nearly made it to the semi-finals, went down 4-5 to Germany in a 5-8 classification match in the Rabobank Junior World Cup hockey tournament for men in Rotterdam on Friday.

The Koreans, who were down to nine men after two players received yellow card suspension in last 10 minutes, led 3-1 and 4-4. However, Germany equalised seconds before close and then went on to win the game with Sebastian Draguhn scoring the golden goal four minutes into the extra-time.

Germany, the four-times winners and who had finished third in 2001 World Cup, meet the Netherlands for 5-6 after the Dutch defeated Pakistan 4-1.

Korea face Pakistan to decide the 7-8 spots.

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It was a big climb down for Pakistan who were playing the World Cup after a lapse of eight years and having failed to qualify for the 2001 edition. Incidentally, Pakistan had won the inaugural World Cup in 1979 at Versailles.

Earlier, playing on a water-logged pitch after heavy rains delayed the start, Malaysia eked out a 2-1 win against Egypt in a 9-12 classification game.

The organisers surprisingly decided to go ahead with the game although there was far too much water still left on the pitch and the ball barely rolled a few feet even when hit hard.