Holland were crowned Olympic champions in China
LONDON, England ● Britain’s men’s hockey team will play their opening match of the London Olympics against Argentina, one of whose players caused a controversy this month with a video filmed in the disputed Falkland islands.
Games organisers announced the hockey competition schedule on Tuesday with men’s champions Germany starting their tournament with a match against Belgium.
In the women’s competition, Australia will play regional rivals New Zealand in the opening match while champions Netherlands face their neighbours Belgium.
Argentine player Fernando Zylberberg caused a furore in Britain with a state-supported television advertisement that showed him training in the Falklands, the south Atlantic islands that Britain and Argentina went to war over in 1982.
The video ended with the voiceover: “To compete on English soil, we are training on Argentine soil.”
Zylberberg was dropped from Argentina’s final Olympic warm-up event in Malaysia but was in the side that qualified for London and his absence does not mean he is definitely discarded for the July 27-Aug 12 Games.
Schedule of men’s hockey competition:
Pool A: Australia, Great Britain, Spain, Pakistan, Argentina, South Africa.
Pool B: Germany, Netherlands, Korea, New Zealand, India, Belgium.
July 30: Korea vs New Zealand; Australia vs South Africa; Spain vs Pakistan; Netherlands vs India; Great Britain vs Argentina; Germany vs Belgium.
August 1: Spain vs Australia; Belgium vs Netherlands; New Zealand vs India; South Africa vs Great Britain; Pakistan vs Argentina; Korea vs Germany.
August 3: Australia vs Argentina; Netherlands vs New Zealand; Germany vs India; Great Britain vs Pakistan; South Africa vs Spain; Belgium vs Korea.
August 5: New Zealand vs Belgium; Pakistan vs South Africa; India vs Korea; Netherlands vs Germany; Great Britain vs Australia; Argentina vs Spain.
August 7: Australia vs Pakistan; Korea vs Netherlands; Argentina vs South Africa; India vs Belgium; Spain vs Great Britain; Germany vs New Zealand.
August 9: 9th-10th Place – 5th Pool A vs 5th Pool B; 7th-8th Place – 4th Pool A vs 4th Pool B; Semi-final 1; Semi-final 2
August 11: 11th-12th Place – 6th Pool A vs 6th Pool B; 5th-6th Place – 3rd Pool A vs 3rd Pool B; Bronze Medal match; Gold Medal match
Groups for women’s hockey competition:
Pool A: Netherlands (No.1), Great Britain (No.4), China (No.5), Korea (No.8), Japan (No.9) and Belgium (No.16).
Pool B: Argentina (No.2), Germany (No.3), New Zealand (No.6), Australia (No.7), US (No.10) and South Africa (No.12).