Pakistan are made to pay

Hockey

Two goals in five minutes midway through the second half earned the Netherlands a 2-0 win over the World Cup holders Pakistan in the Champions' Trophy in Berlin yesterday.

Jacques Brinkman, acting captain in the absence of Marc Delissen, and the recalled Taco van den Honert, were the marksmen. Brinkman seized on a Pakistani deflection in the 51st minute to beat goalkeeper Mansoor Ahmed with an opportunist shot from the edge of the circle. Honert added the second with a perfectly placed flick shot into the top corner of the net.

Pakistan's defeat leaves them with much to do if they are to make Sunday's final. They had the chance to join Australia and Germany at the top of the table but are now two points adrift with two group matches to play.

The Dutch, beaten in their previous two games, moved into third place by winning but have only one more pool game to play, against India on Saturday.

Pakistan should have put the match beyond their opponents' reach long before the Dutch scored. They failed from four corners in the first 45 minutes.

The Dutch goalkeeper, Ronald Jansen, made three fine saves early in the second half, two from the Pakistan captain Shahbaz Ahmed.

"I thought we deserved to win after controlling most of the game," said the Dutch coach, Roelant Oltmans . "Some of the short corners awarded to Pakistan were very doubtful and although I am not in the business of criticising umpires, I will leave anyone who watched the match to draw their own conclusions."