After the U.S. junior national field hockey team’s 4-0 shutout of Korea yesterday in the Junior World Cup, the States are currently top of Pool F with six points. Despite the fact that the Junior Eagles are one of just three teams with two wins from two matches (Germany and The Netherlands are the others), there is still plenty of hockey to be played through the end of Saturday.
Then, and only then, will we get the picture of who will advance to the knockout rounds of this championship.
The States, with six points and a two-point lead over Uruguay in the pool standings, can still drop out of the top eight in the overall standings and miss the championship rounds. But the mission is clear: avoid losing to Uruguay in tomorrow’s final pool match. A win or a draw sees the Americans through to the top eight, which would give them a chance to finish higher than in any other JWC in history.
A loss?
Well, that puts the U.S. in a situation where a number of teams in other pools can overtake them for placement in the quarterfinal round. I think three teams which could find themselves in prime position to try to beat out the States for a quarterfinal berth as a second-place pool team are England from Pool D, India from Pool C, and Belgium from Pool B.
But a win or a draw would give the States a guaranteed top eight berth.