Spain outclasses England

Eduard Tubau put victory beyond doubt five minutes from time to lift the Olympic silver medallists into third place and back in contention for next Sunday8217;s final.

The new rule, introduced as an experiment for this tournament only, allows players foot contact with the ball as long as it is unintentional. The regulation has sparked widespread protest from players.

Forrellat also said Spain8217;s big problem against the disappointing English was over-confidence.

Spain has to play world and Olympic champions The Netherlands on Wednesday and the unbeaten Koreans on Friday to push its claim for the final.

England coach Barry Dancer said his team8217;s concession of a soft goal, Escarre8217;s second midway through the second half, was the turning point in the match.

Dancer was particularly disappointed with the lead-up to Escarre8217;s second goal, when a pass on the right from Josep Sanchez was missed by three English defenders, before Escarre deflected past goalkeeper Simon Mason.

England have now lost all three of their matches at the Champions Trophy.

The Netherlands beaten

Olympic men8217;s field hockey champion The Netherlands was virtually knocked out of Champions Trophy contention yesterday after crashing to a 2-1 defeat against host Australia.

With one point from three matches, the Dutch need to win their last two round-robin games and hope for a miracle in other results.

Australia8217;s win took it top of the table with nine points from three wins while South Korea was second on seven points. Spain moved into third on four points with a 3-0 win over England earlier yesterday.

In the women8217;s competition, Germany surprised arch-rival The Netherlands with a 3-2 victory, completing a miserable day for the Dutch. Argentina improved its chances of reaching the final by beating South Korea 2-0.

Dutch men8217;s captain Stephen Veen was furious at the match refereeing, claiming his side was denied a crucial penalty stroke late in the game.

Troy elder scored the first goal from a penalty corner flick in the 13th minute and Stephen Davies produce a piece of magic to score on halftime after Jacques Brinkman had equalized with a penalty stroke in the 32nd minute.

Olympic silver medllist South Korea slumped to its third loss from three games as Argentine captain Karina Masotta sealed the win with a goal in the final minute.

South Korea fired in an unsuccessful protest after captain Lee Eun-Young had a goal disallowed which would have leveled the scores with six minutes remaining against an Argentine team struggling to hold out its attacking raids.

Argentina8217;s first goal came from Alejandra Gulla in the 46th minute, allowing Argentina to remain in the gold medal hunt even though coach Sergio Vigil was unimpressed with his team8217;s performance.