EUROPA U21 MENS CUP x FINALS VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS PT3

Netherlands have won the 2010 Europa Men’s U21 Cup with a convincing 4-1 victory over Belgium in the final last Sunday. Germany beat England 3-2 in the 3rd place match and Poland and Russia have been relegated from this Euro level event after finishing in the bottom two places  after the classification rounds.

Video highlights of all the big games are below so sit back and enjoy the best that the youth of Europe have to offer.

2nd SEMI FINAL: ENGLAND v NETHERLANDS

3RD PLACE: GERMANY v ENGLAND

FINAL: NETHERLANDS v BELGIUM (skip counter to 4:46)

EUROPA U21 MENS CUP x ENGLAND VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS PT2

Following on from our previous EUROPA U21 MENS CUP x VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS PT1 entry, here we have video highlights of all the English Pool A games + english commentary courtesy of fieldhockey.tv

ENGLAND v SPAIN

ENGLAND v BELGIUM

ENGLAND v FRANCE

EUROPA U21 MENS CUP x VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS PT1

FOR VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS, SCROLL DOWN!

The Men’s U21 European Cup is currently underway in Siemianowice Slaskie, Poland. It is a week long competition where the best of Europe fight it out for the bi-annual title of Euro Champions.

There are a heap of talented young Gryphon guns representing all nations in this tournament, with many making waves and putting in staring performances.

Pool A consists of Belgium, England, Spain and France while the makeup of Pool B includes Netherlands, Germany, Russia and hosts Poland.

At the completion of the pool stage, here are the current standings

Ranking Pool A:

Team	No.Matches	GF	GA	GD	Points	Ranking
Belgium	3	11	8	3	7	1
England	3	10	7	3	6	2
Spain	3	4	8	-4	2	3
France	3	5	7	-2	1	4

Ranking Pool B:

Team	No.Matches	GF	GA	GD	Points	Ranking
Netherlands	3	8	5	3	9	1
Germany	3	16	9	7	6	2
Russia	3	9	13	-4	1	3
Poland	3	4	10	-6	1	4

Thursday (today) is a rest day with the Semi’s to be played on Friday and the Finals on Saturday. Semi Final 1 has England up agains the Netherlands and Semi Final 2 see’s Belgium play Germany. This tournament is a major scouting ground for the senior national teams plus the big European clubs so expect the players to be putting it all on the line in these titanic European clashes.

We have sourced the available highlights from the round matches for your viewing pleasure below. Now sit back and relax as the best youth in Europe go head to head.

DAY 1 WRAP

GERMANY v RUSSIA

GERMANY v NETHERLANDS

SPAIN v ENGLAND

BELGIUM v SPAIN

BELGIUM V FRANCE

FRANCE v ENGLAND

HOLLAND v POLAND

3RD PLACE x REDEMPTION x VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Hi All!

The last time I wrote was just before the semi final of the Hoofdklasse with OZ. We had to play HGC, the team of Vogels, Jackson, Middleton, Garza,…. The first game we played was at home and we won 4-3. The day after we played the second game at HGC where we lost 3-1. I remember that Vogels was in good shape that game and stopped us from scoring and they scored their chances. The following Wednesday we played the third and final game against HGC that we also lost 3-1. I guess the better team won but we were really dissapointed because everybody was allready dreaming of the final.

After that it was hard to still be motivated to play the 3rd-4th place match. We had one more week of training ahead and then the last games of the season! Last year we also had to play the 3rd-4th play-off and we lost from Rotterdam in 2 games. We missed the final and a spot in the EHL so we came up empty handed. The team didn’t want to make that mistake again. Training for a full year and being left with nothing! We played the first game at Laren. We lost on golden goal just 2 minutes before the end. It was very hard and frustrating to lose like that after almost 90 minutes of hockey! After that game we had another week of training, I can tell you, at that moment the season seemed very long! We played the second match at home on saturday and we won 3-2. Of course we were very happy but we knew we had still one hard match to go. That day Bloemendaal became champions for the 5th year in a row!! That made our third and final game on sunday the last game of the season! The next day we won 4-3 at home against Laren in the final match of the season! Our youngest player Jelle Galema scored the 4-2 and that made him the match winner in the end!

It was truly a great feeling after training hard the whole year. We acheived it together, we got ups and downs throughout the season but we could end on a very positive note. It was also the last game of our coaches Roger Van Gent and Toon Siepman and also of our LEGENDARY manager Bart Gielen. So we were very happy we could end like this. We had a good party after but I will spare you guys the details! I personally was also happy with my form in the play offs scoring 4 goals out of 6 matches which was my best performance in the 2 seasons I played for OZ. I hope it will only will get better! Next year the team stays the same only the young Belgian talent Simon Gougnard will be joining us. I played with him in the national team and he is a really skillfull player, he is only 19 years old and he will learn a lot playing for OZ. It will be interesting to see him grow as a player. And of course he is a really good guy off the pitch as well so that will be fun!

After the last game on the 13th of June I had 1 week off and then I started my fitness training for the national team. We started our full time period on 26th of June. We train from 4pm until 8 pm with one free day a week. And we play 10 practice matches. As I am writing we allready played 8 practice games. The last 2 days we played New Zealand, we won the first game 5-3 and lost the second 1-0. Our last 2 games of the period we play Australia. One tomorrow and the last game on monday. After that the full time period will be over and it is time for a vacation!!!! It has been a very long season, I had my downs with 3 injuries throughout the season but I had some really great moments also and that was worth all the hard work! Nevertheless I am happy it is almost over and I can relax for 2 or 3 weeks before starting the preparation with OZ again! I am going with my girlfriend Jolien to France by car. Paris, Nice, Saint-tropez,…. Should be really good and I am looking forward to it!

You can watch the highlights of out semi finals series below, however our 3rd place series was not recorded by NOS.

Enjoy watching the champions trophy and good luck to all the G-team members who are playing the tournament and also good luck to the G-team members who play the European cup U21!

Take care,

Thomas

SEMI FINAL GAME 1

SEMI FINAL GAME 2

SEMI FINAL GAME 3

I’M STILL ALIVE x THOMA BRIELS

Hi all!

The last time I wrote for gryphon life was when I was in Argentina playing the world cup qualifier with Belgium. The tournament ended very disappointing for me and that’s also the reason I wasn’t in the mood to write! ;0) But here at gryphon we can write whenever we feel like it!

The last training before the final in Argentina against Argentina I broke a bone in my foot. So I missed the final and I had to watch my team trying to get a world cup ticket, from the stands. Unfortunately we lost 4-3 against Argentina while being 3-1 up with 17 minutes left on the clock!! For me, being in the stands watching my team and friends work there asses off for the victory and watching them lose at the last seconds was very hard. But that’s the beauty of team sport, you win together and lose together. After the game everyone was very disappointed but we played very good hockey and we know there is a good future ahead for this very young team if we keep working like this. (I think the average age at the tournament was 23) The beers taste better after a victory but we still enjoyed a couple with the whole team the last night in Argentina!

So after the tournament I had to walk for 2 months on crutches and after that I couldn’t run for another month! So I couldn’t run or play sports for 3 months!! All because I broke a little bone in my foot, incredible!  But in the end I didn’t miss much of hockey with my club Oranje-Zwart because the competition in Holland stopped for 5 months due to the Champions Trophy and the World Cup.

We had a difficult first part of the season with Oranje-Zwart, ending 7th after 13 matches! But 4 weeks ago we started the second part of the competition, with Rob Hammond back in the team and you can say we are on fire! The second part of the season was the money time, we had to win all our upcoming matches to still have a chance to get in to the play offs! We won 6 matches and drew 1. Earning 19 points in 7 games and scoring 29 goals! We are playing exciting hockey and I love it!

Currently we are ranked 3rd and we still have to play 2 matches. 1 more point and we are sure of play-offs. Playing the play offs in the Hoofdklasse is incredible so that’s where we want to be!  Tomorrow we play HGC, ranked first, so wish us luck!!

Besides hockey I still have a great time in Eindhoven, kicking Sander Baart and Marc Salles asses at FIFA (I hope they don’t read this!) at our home, the “Pius Mansion”, and having a great time with my girlfriend Jolien who lives 5 minutes from the Pius Mansion and OZ.

In one month I have my final exams so if we become champion and I pass my exams I will be a happy man!

I will try to keep you posted about the competition and the play offs!!

Regards, Thomas

NEWS FROM THE BELGIAN TEAM

Hi everybody,

To begin a little introduction of myself. My name is Jeffrey Thys (Jeff), I’m a player of the Belgian National Team and I play for Dragons Hockey club in the Belgian Competition. I study Applied Economic Sciences at the university of Antwerp.

We are at Salta (Argentina) now to play the Champions Challenge. After the deception of the World Cup Qualifier at Quilmes (where we lost to Argentina in the final with 4-3 after leading 1-3), it’s a matter of switching your thoughts on to the next tournament and to refresh mentally. Easier said than done.. After the first tournament a lot of players left the group for several reasons. This means that only a few of us stayed in Argentina between the 2 tournaments ( there are worse places were you can be on a week off ), and a week after another group arrived. A very young team at the moment with an average age of 20,9 years old! This means little experience. However, this also means very motivated players who want to prove themselves.

This Sunday we played the first game against China that is known for their physical strength and discipline. We won the game 4-3 (1-1 at half time). This meant a good start in the tournament and a boost for a lot of players.

Today we played New Zealand, a strong team with some very known players. The game ended 1-4 (1-1 at half time) but the score was exaggerated. With 5 min to go we missed a great chance and at that time it was 1-2. Soon after that we got a yellow card and NZ exploited that.

This means that the final game of the group against India this Thursday has to be won. Not easy, but what game is easy here?

Off the field the atmosphere has been great so far with the 2 groups. Argentina is a great country, the people are very nice and they know how to have fun…

However, I must say that 6 weeks away from home is a long time. After the, hopefully successful, ChaCha I’m looking forward to the plane back to Belgium!

Your support on Thursday is more than welcome!!

Cheers,

Jeff

Photos: Daniel Carson | dcimages.org

WCQ THREE x FINAL x ARGENTINA COMEBACK

DAY SIX :: THE FINAL

The comeback kids have done it again. Argentina, 0-2 down at the half time break, have hit 4 second half goals to win the Third and final WCQ and claim their spot at the 2010 World Cup in India.

With Belgium netting twice in the first half, one through Gryphon’s Jeffrey Thys, it looked like they had set up a strong lead that would have Argentina with it all to do. Argentina slotted their first early in the 2nd half to make it 1-2, however Belgium quickly regained a gap and scoreboard pressure with a 48th minute field goal to extend their lead to 1-3. With 17 minutes remaining in the match, Argentina started the fight back that would leave the Belgians asking “what-if”, netting in the 53rd (2-3), 57th (3-3) and the winner coming in the 62nd minute (4-3) from Gryphon’s own Mario Almada. The Argentines then held nerve to play the remaining 8 minutes out as the Quilmes stadium burst into celebration as the home-town hero’s secured their 2010 Qualification. Congratulations Argentina!!!

5th v 6th: Chile – USA 1:2 (0:0)
48min USA Pat HARRIS (PC)
64min USA Will HOLT (PC)
70min CHI Alfredo THIERMANN (PC)

3rd v 4th: Ireland – Czech Republic 1:1 (1:0) 2:1 AET
25min IRL David AMES (FG)
53min CZE Stepan BERNATEK (FG)
77min IRL Timothy COCKRAM (PC) – Golden Goal

The Final: Argentina – Belgium 4:3 (0:2)
14min BEL Cedric CHARLIER (FG)
25min BEL Jeffrey THYS (FG)
39min ARG Pedro IBARRA (PC)
48min BEL Jerome DEKEYSER (FG)
53min ARG Pedro IBARRA (PS)
57min ARG Lucas VILA (FG)
62min ARG Mario ALMADA (FG

SO, That now wraps up the Men’s qualifiers, with all 12 teams now known for next years World Cup ::

WC 2010 – Those that have qualified

India (Host)

Canada (Champion of the 3rd Men’s Pan American Cup)

Korea (Champion of the 8th Men’s Asia Cup)

South Africa (Champion of the Africa Cup of Nations, 2009)

Australia (Champion of the 6th Men’s Oceania Cup)

England (Champion of the 12th Men’s EuroHockey Nations Championship)

Germany (Silver medalist of the 12th Men’s EuroHockey Nations Championship)

Netherlands (Bronze medalist of the 12th Men’s EuroHockey Nations Championship)

Spain (Fourth ranked team of the 12th Men’s EuroHockey Nations Championship)

Pakistan (Winner of the Men’s World Cup Qualification Tournament – No. 1)

New Zealand (Winner of the Men’s World Cup Qualification Tournament – No. 2)

Argentina (Winner of the Men’s World Cup Qualification Tournament – No. 3)

WCQ THREE x QUILMES x DAY 5 x FINAL SHOWDOWN

DAY FIVE

So its set in stone, Argentina are to play Belgium in the final of this WCQ for the 12th and last spot in the 2010 World Cup. Argentina enter the game in form having beaten Ireland 4-0, while Belgium stumbled to draw with USA 3-3. In the other match of the day Czech Rep won over Chile 2-1. So we wait for the much anticipated final where winner takes all. Both these teams are evenly matched and it will prove to be a titanic battle.

For us it puts some of our top Gryphon athletes head to head in Briels, Thys and Almada…Stay tuned for an exciting finish and good luck to both teams…

Czech Republic – Chile 2:1 (2:0)
10min CZE Martin BABICKY (FG)
17min CZE Jakub KYNDL (FG)
63min CHI Alexis BERZCELY (FG)

Belgium – USA 3:3 (1:0)
5min BEL Cedric CHARLIER (FG)
44min USA Pat HARRIS (PC)
52min BEL Cedric CHARLIER (PC)
59min USA Gurpal KUNDI (FG)
60min BEL Tom BOON (FG)
70min USA Jarred MARTIN (FG)

Ireland – Argentina 0:4 (0:3)
12min ARG Mario ALMADA (FG)
19min ARG Pedro IBARRA (PC)
24min ARG Lucas CAMMARERI (PC)
49min ARG Pedro IBARRA (PS)

Standings DAY 5: ARG 13pts, BEL 11pts, IRE 7pts, CZECH 7pts, CHILE 3pts, USA 1pt

Photos: Daniel Carson | dcimages.org

WCQ THREE x QUILMES x DAY 4 VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

DAY 4 (Thursday 19th November)

Thursdays fixtures at the WCQ in Quilmes witnessed 1v2, 2v4 and 5v6 based off current round standings. The results highlight just how even this qualifier is between close rivals. The match of the round was the top billing of Belgium against home favourites Argentina, in perhaps a prelude to the expected final on Sunday. There is one more round left on Saturday, and Ireland must win to give themselves any chance of making the final. Belgium and Argentina need only a draw from their last round match to both advance, failing that if Ireland wins it will go to goal difference to decide the top two.

USA – Chile 1:2 (0:1)
24min CHI Martin RODRIGUEZ (FG)
55min CHI Thomas KANNEGIESSER (PC)
69min USA Arjan REYATT (FG)

Czech Republic v Ireland 2:2 (0:2)
12min IRL John JERMYN (PS)
22min IRL John JERMYN (PC)
54min CZE Martin BABICKY (FG)
66min CZE Martin BABICKY (FG)

Argentina – Belgium 2:2 (0:0)
48min ARG Pedro IBARRA (PC)
55min ARG Tomas ARGENTO (FG)
57min BEL Jerome DEKEYSER (PC)
64min BEL Max LUYCX (PC)

Standings DAY 3: BEL 10pts,  ARG 10pts, IRE 7pts, CZECH 4pt, CHILE 3pt, USA 0pt

BLOG 2: WCQ THREE BEGINS

Hey again!

So the World Cup Qualifier in Quilmes finally started! The preparation for a tournament is always long and hard. You have training with the national team, fitness sessions, meetings, practice games, selection and all of the guys have their club training and matches as well! So you can imagine everyone is very happy when the tournament finally starts and we can just think about our goal and the upcoming matches!

On Saturday we played the first match against Chile. We were off to a bad start with Chile scoring the first goal after 2 minutes! Lucky for us we got in to the game and we lead 2-1 at half time. Chile was a better team then we thought so we had to stay focused. In the second half we made 2 more goals. So after 70 minutes of hockey we won 4-1. Always good to win the first game of the tournament but we didn’t play our best hockey. So there is room for improvement during the tournament! After the match we got all in the ice baths and drank our ‘nice’ protein shake for a better recuperation! We had to play Czech Republic the next day.

Argentina (the host) played the first game against Czech Republic. We saw the match on TV in our hotel room! It’s amazing how many sports channels there are in Argentina. I think you can watch soccer any time of the day! ? We saw Argentina struggling with Czech Republic but the host got the well-fought victory, 1-0!

In this tournament there is no room for error because there are only 2 places in the final and only 1 ticket to the World Cup in India next year, so we couldn’t underestimate our opponents! We played good hockey against the Czech and we won easily 9-0. It was a good feeling because nobody remembered when Belgium won 9-0 in an international match in the past!

After the game we went for dinner in the city. It’s always nice to eat outside of the hotel, we can see the city a little bit and normally the food is better! The staff, with a lot of Aussies (Adam Commens, Collin Batch, John Bessel) enjoyed there cold beers while the players had to be happy with water and maybe a Coke! ******* staff!!

Tomorrow we play Ireland. They also won their first 2 games. They won 6-1 vs USA in the first match and 4-1 vs Chile in the second. It’s the first good test for us to see where we are at in the tournament. We are excited and eager to play them! It will be a hard match!

For me it’s time to go to bed! Hope you guys are cheering for us!

Cheers, Thomas

Photo: Daniel Carson | dcimages.org

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