Australia won a third successive Champions Trophy, and 11th in all, with a comprehensive 4-0 mauling of England on Sunday, shrugging off a 60-minute rain delay in the process.
England secured the consolation of runners-up having never previously done better than fifth place while the Netherlands took bronze with a 4-1 defeat of Germany.
Australia coach Ric Charlesworth was delighted with his team’s perfect record of six wins in six matches.
“If you had told me before the tournament we would have these results I would have been very happy. You don’t expect it will happen,” Charlesworth said.
“We came here with the most inexperienced team in the tournament and this has deepened the belief of a number of players that they can play at this level,” he said.
England coach Jason Lee was disappointed with the quality of his team’s performance.
“They did not show up to play today and I hope they are not satisfied that the silver medal is enough,” Lee said.
Australia stamped their name on the trophy with three goals inside the first 15 minutes.
Luke Doerner converted his side’s first penalty corner, Des Abbott knocked in a pass from Glenn Turner and Jason Wilson scorched a shot into the middle of the net.
England had three penalty corners at the end of the first half, but Ashley Jackson and Simon Mantell were off target.
A cloud burst flooded the pitch a minute into the half-time break, causing a 60-minute delay.
There were few quality performances in the second half due to the slow pitch although Jamie Dwyer managed to tee up a drive which rocked the goalposts for Australia’s fourth goal.
The 4-0 scoreline equalled the highest score in a Champions Trophy final — a mark held by Germany and Australia.
Germany’s long season created mental and physical stress as the hosts slumped 4-1 to the Dutch.
“We played a bad game. The players were not up to the task and it’s a combination of mental and physical exhaustion,” Germany coach Markus Weise said.
Dutch skipper Teun de Nooijer converted a penalty stroke and Rogier Hofman cracked in a field goal to give the Netherlands a 2-0 lead at the break.
De Nooijer struck again early in the second half, deflecting in a cross from Jeroen Hertzberger and Mink van der Weerden converted a sixth penalty corner chance, high into the right of goal.
Germany gained a consolation goal from Florian Woesch.
New Zealand finished last and were relegated after losing 3-2 to Spain.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
RSS