The Hague (The Netherlands): Olympic silver medalists The Netherlands defeated England 1-0 to enter the final of the FIH World Cup at the Kyocera Stadium here on Friday.
Chasing their fourth World Cup title, hosts The Netherlands rode on a penalty corner conversion by Mike van der Weerden in the 31st minute to overcome the dogged England defence.
Van der Weerden sent a drag flick, from Netherlands’ second penalty corner, soaring into the net to the left of English goalkeeper George Pinner, who warded off many raids by the rampant Dutch forwards on the day.
Netherlands await the winner of the second semifinal between defending champions Australia and Pan-American challenger Argentina, who have made the men’s semifinal for the first time in World Cup history. The final will be played on Sunday.
The English goal had two narrow shaves when the ball rebounded off the bars after beating the defenders.
In the 27th minute, Billy Bakker’s rising reverse hit deflected off the cross-bar, while Rogier Hofman’s flick rebounded into play after hitting the left post in the 48th minute.
England were constantly under pressure from the Dutch strikers, but managed to build some raids into the rival circle.
Dutch custodian Jaap Stockmann, however, was not unduly troubled by the English shots at the goal.
