By Forrest Crellin
PARIS (Reuters) – Top-ranked Netherlands drew 2-2 with world number two side Britain after conceding two late goals to forward Lee Morton in men’s hockey at the Paris Olympics but led Pool A on Tuesday.
Sweat drenched the players and spectators alike as the crowds continued to turn out despite forecasts of 36 degrees Celsius (96.8°F) heat, with cheers of “Holland!” ringing out as their supporters showed up in a sea of orange.
Storms are forecast for the two evening Pool B games and throughout Wednesday.
“Today the heat was unbelievable … Netherlands captain Thierry Brinkman said. “It was heavy to keep running normally. And the subs are coming closer, sooner, quicker. So when you’re just off, someone is calling one minute and then we switch.
“The most important thing now is to recover well, get a good sleep, and then fight again tomorrow.”
Britain’s captain David Ames added: “I think the quality that we’ve shown, our determination to keep fighting towards the end, to get two goals in the calibre and the way that we did, it’s nice to come off with a draw and move forward unbeaten.”
The draw leaves Britain third on five points behind the Dutch with seven and second-placed Germany on six.
Table-topping India beat Ireland 2-0 in Tuesday’s first Pool B game as captain Harmanpreet Singh enabled their fans to relax with two early drag-flick goals after the outcome of the team’s previous two matches was decided in the final minutes.
Harmanpreet has now scored the decisive goal in all three games for India who have seven points ahead of Belgium and Australia on six. The top four in each six-team Pool qualify for the quarter-finals.
Spain came back twice to secure a 3-3 draw against France after substitute Timothee Clement opened the scoring with two goals for the hosts, securing their first point in Pool A and keeping their quarter-final hopes alive.
“Before the game we knew if we lose it’s finished,” France captain Viktor Lockwood said. “Yesterday and this morning, we had a lot of meetings … It’s our first Olympics and maybe our last. Give everything in the game and just play, just play,”
Germany bounced back to pummel South Africa 5-1, also in Pool A, after an upset loss to Spain on Sunday.
(Reporting by Forrest Crellin; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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