Victory over Spain needed

Seventy minutes to Sydney? Well, when the umpires signal for the start of Ireland's game against Spain in Milton Keynes today that's how far they'll be away from fulfilling their wildest of dreams - qualification for the 2000 Olympic Games.

Yes, they lost to Germany yesterday but in the course of their 2-1 defeat they produced enough quality and spirit to suggest that maybe, just maybe, they can upset the Spanish today, whose own spirits are none too high after conceding a last-minute equaliser to the USA yesterday.

Even if they lose today Ireland have the safety net of the 5th-8th place play-offs to fall in to but the consensus is their best hope of qualification is by beating the Spanish, who only need a draw today. If Ireland failed to beat Spain they would need to win two play-off matches, on Friday and Saturday, to secure their place in the Olympic Games, having to beat China, New Zealand or Britain along the way - a daunting prospect.

After unconvincing displays against India and the USA, Ireland's confidence and self-belief was restored yesterday when they gave the Germans, the third ranked team in the world, as tough a game as they've had in the tournament to date. When Fanny Rinne deflected Britta Becker's corner strike past Tara Browne after just seven minutes the omens weren't so good but Browne kept her team in the game with some wonderful saves, from Becker, Natascha Keller and Inga Moller.

Ireland fought their way back, largely inspired by midfielder Rachel Kohler who can't have produced too many finer performances for her country in her previous 103 appearances.

Four minutes before the break the Harlequins player levelled the game, collecting a Mary Logue free just inside the circle on the left and firing in a magnificent reverse stick effort that deceived German goalkeeper Birgit Beyer and crept between her and her right post.

Germany stepped up a gear and scored what proved to be the winning goal - the one that secured Germany's place at the Olympics - in the 46th minute when Browne saved from Keller but Shauna Parkhill's attempted clearance of the rebound fell to Becker and she scored with ease.

Even then, though, the Germans never looked too comfortable and moved Becker to the left of midfield to try and counter Logue and Claire McMahon who were causing problems for the right side of the German defence. While an equaliser never looked likely Ireland hassled and harried their opponents until the final hooter, earning the praise of coach Riet Kuper who said "that's more like it".

In Pool B a 1-0 defeat by New Zealand leaves Britain needing to beat China today to be sure of a top two finish in their pool.