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England World Cup hopes end after Netherlands draw
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England’s World Cup hopes are over after they drew 2-2 with the Netherlands in their final Pool E game.
Zak Jones’ side had to beat the co-hosts to have a chance of progressing from the second pool stage to the semi-finals.
They went ahead after five minutes through Stuart Rushmere, but the Netherlands, three-time World Cup winners, responded through Jip Janssen and Thierry Brinkman.
Henry Croft levelled for England early in the fourth quarter, but they could not find a winner in Amstelveen.
“[I am] gutted, heartbroken. It hurts a lot,” said England captain Zach Wallace.
“We gave it everything and we put in a performance we can be proud of. In the end it wasn’t to be.
“Some decisions fell against us and some balls didn’t fall our way. It’s those details at the top level.”
The result means the Netherlands top the group and advance to the semi-finals from Pool E along with Argentina, with England third and India in fourth.
Germany and Spain complete the semi-final line-up.
England’s final game of the tournament will be the fifth-place match against Australia at the same stadium on Friday (14:00 BST).


