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The following are facts on the 29 June Champions Trophy match between Spain and Australia.
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Champions Trophy Head-to-heads
> These countries have met on 19 previous occasions in the Champions Trophy with the Australians holding a firm statistical edge (11 wins, 5 draws, 3 defeats).
> However, two of Spain's three victories over Australia have come in their last four encounters with them.
> The pool match between these nations on Tuesday, 24 June, finished in a 1-1 draw. Grant Schubert put the Kookaburras (54') up by 1-0, but David Alegre (64') provided the equaliser for Spain.
Team Facts Spain
> Spain have earned only their second final berth in the Champions Trophy. They triumphed 4-2 against the Netherlands in their only previous gold medal match appearance in Lahore in 2004.
> Spain finished top of the of the pool with 10 points from five matches and a superior goal differential (+7) over Australia (+4) and Argentina (3+).
> The team that has finished first in the group stage has won the final in each of the last 10 Champions Trophies.
> Spain are undefeated since losing their opening match against hosts Netherlands on Saturday 21 June. No country has won the Champions Trophy after losing their opening match since Germany in 1992.
Team Facts Australia
> Australia gave themselves a chance of equalling Germany's competition record of nine Champions Trophy overall victories. Of the previous eight they have collected only one on European soil (Berlin 1989).
> Australia finished runners-up in the 2007 Champions Trophy in Kuala Lumpur. The last two Champions Trpphies have been won by the team that finished second in the previous year.
> Australia have not finished runners-up in the Champions Trophy in successive years since 1981-1982.
> Australia have been the least efficient side in the penalty corner department in Rotterdam, having converted only one of 11 attempts (9%). Their only penalty corner goal in this tournament was scored by David Guest in Australia's opening match victory over South Korea on Saturday, 21 June.
Player Facts Spain
> 11 players in the current Spanish squad were present when Spain won their only Champions Trophy in 2004. The seven players in Spain's squad that have yet to win the Champions Trophy are Franc Dinares, Pol Amat, Eduard Tubau, Xavier Ribas, Xavi Castellano, Roc Oliva and José Borrell.
> Santi Freixa's 29 career Champions Trophy goals make him joint sixth in the all-time top scorer table. The only players with more goals to their name are Sohail Abbas (40), Taeke Taekema (40), Teun de Nooijer (34), Mark Hager (32) and Carsten Fischer (30).
Player Facts Australia
> Matthew Wells is the only player in the Kookaburra squad that was also part of the Terry Walsh engineered triumph in Brisbane in 1999. Wells was also present when Australia emerged victorious in 2005 in Chennai with current head coach Barry Dancer.
> Other players returning from Australia's victorious campaign in 2005 are Travis Brooks, Liam De Young, Luke Doerner, Jamie Dwyer, Bevan George, David Guest, Mark Knowles, Stephen Lambert, Grant Schubert and Andrew Smith.
> On 28 June, Travis Brooks became the ninth Australian goalscorer in the tournament. The championship record is 11 different goalscorers in a single Champions Trophy, by Australia in 2003 and 2005.
Champions Trophy overall victories by nation
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# |
Nation |
Year(s) |
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9 |
(West) Germany |
1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2007 |
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8 |
Australia |
1983, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1999, 2005 |
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8 |
Netherlands |
1981, 1982, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006 |
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3 |
Pakistan |
1978, 1980, 1994 |
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1 |
Spain |
2004 | Bold denotes 2008 Champions Trophy finalists.
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