The Netherlands retains the world field hockey crown

Succi saves a Dutch penalty-corner. Alejandro Garcia (EFE)

The ball ran through the

of the Netherlands as hockey does through their veins, universal team and true foreman of the sport, already with nine World Cups out of the 15 that have been played.

The last three ran and this one, in Terrassa, against an Argentina that until now seemed mammoth and that after the final against the Netherlands was reduced to little, a straw rival due to the enormous

superiority .

Yes, the two best teams in the world were measured (especially since Australia is no longer what it used to be), the Leonas aspiring after an excellent tournament, recent winners of the Pro League;

but to the Netherlands there is no one who coughs it up.

Not even Argentina.

This was explained to him in the last final of the Tokyo Games (3-1);

thus he ratified it with a new world crown (3-1).

As if to honor Hans Zimmer's notes from

that the soprano sang in the closing act, Argentina tried from the beginning to present its candidacy, fierce in pressure, hockey with mouthfuls of direct passes that jumped pressure lines to put the Netherlands in trouble.

Thus, as an appetizer, two penalty-corners arrived, as well as two shots by Gorzelany, the tournament's top scorer with eight goals.

The first, with a rebound, almost surprised Josine Koning, a goalkeeper who throws hands and feet without remission;

the second, crooked, went high.

And there the momentum of Argentina ended, subdued by the technical quality of the Netherlands, capable of moving the ball from side to side until cornering it, also physical and vigorous against rival contacts, since in the first act two green cards were seen, one per team.

Built the game with passes from the root of Koolen, catapulted by Verschoor and invigorated by Felice Albers on the balcony of the rival area, Holland showed off that nickname of

that Cruyff and his teammates earned in football in the decade of the 1970s. The ball was his, the hockey too.

And, coming so long, after several penalty-corners and splendid saves by Succi, Yibbi Jansen hit him - she was not the main pitcher, because Matla was on the bench - and although Succi saved it, the rejection went to the

of Verschoors and from there to goal.

Without time to recover from the slap, Sanders read Matla's uncheck, who faced the goalkeeper and stripped her like a daisy, shooting into the net.

Double hack.

Argentina did not give up, as they took pains to give the game rhythm, to try to define themselves with individual races.

But not even with those did it hurt the Netherlands, who autographed the play of the tournament to seal the final, a counter attack for the video libraries.

Double wall to get the ball from his area, a vertical pass from De Goede and a boost from Moes for Albers' run, which placed it in the goal before Succi's exit.

Holland was too much, a superlative team that clarified its leadership in the world ranking in a big way, even though Groszelany left his notch, the goal of honor with a penalty-corner while from the stands the shouts of: “¡¡¡

Argentina!".

And that the Netherlands had not completed a great game in the tournament, because in the quarterfinals they beat Belgium with sweat (2-1) and in the semifinals they beat Australia -third in the contest- by the minimum (1-0).

It turns out that he had saved the best for the final, to tell Argentina and the rest of the planet that the world crown is not touched.

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