BHUBANESWAR: Australia were expected to be hungry to perform at this World Cup after missing out on gold in Tokyo and winning just a bronze at the 2018 edition of the tournament. But not many would have anticipated what transpired at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Friday. Playing their first game of the tournament, the Aussies thrashed France 8-0 in their Group A game.
Jeremy Hayward and Tom Craig both scored a hat-trick while Tom Wickham and Flynn Ogilvie scored a goal each as the world No. 1 side began their journey in dominant fashion.
France were poor but things could have been quite different had they converted their PCs. They won three in the second quarter and four more in the last 15 minutes but couldn't get past Australia's defence. In comparison, Australia were brilliant from the PCs, Hayward scoring all of his three goals from them. Blake Govers was part of the squad but he didn't take the turf and it remains to be seen for how long Australian coach Colin Batch will be able to rest him.
He got injured during the series against India but was still included in the squad. The Australian coach and players wore black armbands during the match on Friday in memory of Brian Glencross, a former hockey player and coach who passed away on December 30 last year.
Earlier in the day, Argentina's Maico Casella scored first as the 2016 Olympic champions beat South Africa 1-0. Argentina looked rusty, to say the least, and failed to convert eight PCs. South Africa also put up a dogged show and made sure the match remained goalless for 42 minutes. But in the 43rd minute, Lucas Toscani hit a reverse flick from the top of the D, and Casella, standing in front of the goalkeeper, deflected the ball through his pads into the net.
