Men's Hockey World Cup qualifier: Irish heads in Changzhou are still shaking in disbelief at losing to Belgium on Saturday after a match Ireland dominated for over an hour, but now they must concentrate on today's do-or-die fixture with Egypt at the World Hockey Cup qualifier.
"The Belgian coach actually apologised to me because he just could not believe how they had come out with a victory," claimed coach Dave Passmore after the 1-0 defeat as he rued a series of penalty-corner chances spurned.
"We were not firing today as we have been and as we will do for the rest of the tournament. A corner should be a free shot and we won enough corners. We gave away seven corners against England and lost 5-1 and then today we won eight and didn't score. And there's the difference that would have put us in contention."
Alternate strikers Stephen Butler and John Jermyn managed some solid drag flicks without ever making goalkeeper Cedric De Greve look uncomfortable.
They must now focus on Egypt, a team they beat twice earlier in the year on a visit to Cairo, a fact that is no cause for complacency with Passmore.
Today's opponents were without Ahmed Mohamed for the games in Cairo and he has proven one of the most eye-catching attackers at the tournament in Changzhou, despite being on a team that has lost three from three so far. Mohamed has spent the 2005/2006 season playing national league hockey in England and the experience has certainly done him no harm.
Egypt have also benefited from the importation of Dutch coach Norbert Nederlof, to add discipline to their undoubted talent and passion.
One man very familiar with Egypt is Ireland's assistant coach Craig Fulton, who reckons he played against them about 10 times for his native South Africa, in one of hockey's great international rivalries. "They are a team not to be underestimated. On their day they are a very attacking group," warns Fulton, currently coach with Pembroke Wanderers.
"They rely a lot on individual flair and have some good players. Their weakness is that they play on emotion and, if things don't go right, they let everyone know. If things go right for them, then they are a hard nut to crack."
With Canada and Egypt yet to chalk up a point, Ireland fill fourth place in Pool A and, if they hold on to that ranking, they will make the play-offs for the fifth and final spot on offer in China for the World Cup in Münchengladbach next September.
However, defeat or even a draw in today's game would leave them probably having to rely on taking something from Wednesday's match against Pakistan.
The Pakistanis, silver medallists at the recent Commonwealth Games, have not yet shown their full hand and they dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Belgium. Their match today with England, who have been scoring freely so far, may bring out the best in them as they attempt to repeat their win in the Melbourne meeting of the two nations a few weeks ago.
POOL B: Japan 2 (A Itom, N Tobita), South Korea 4 (JH Jang, SJ Kang, SM Lee, JH Seo); China 0, Malaysia 2 (A Tengku, I Abu); New Zealand 2 (J Nation, H Shaw), France 5 (JJ Sebastien, J Boyer 2, F Soyez, N Gaillard). Standings (after 3 matches): 1, South Korea 7 points; 2, New Zealand 6 points; 3, France 5 points; 4, Malaysia 3 points; 5, Japan 3 points; 6, China 1 point.
