2004 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Alcalá la Real)

The 2004 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament was a women's field hockey tournament, consisting of a series of test matches. It was held in Alcalá la Real, Spain, from July 30 to August 3, 2004, and featured four of the top nations in women's field hockey. The event was held as a precursor to the upcoming Olympic Games.^[1]

Four Nations

Tournament details
Host country	Spain
City	Alcalá la Real
Teams	4 (from 3 confederations)
Venue(s)	Club Hockey Alcalá
Final positions
Champions	Netherlands
Runner-up	Argentina
Third place	Australia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	8
Goals scored	35 (4.38 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Alejandra Gulla (4 goals)

Competition format

The tournament featured the national teams of Argentina, Australia, the Netherlands, and the hosts, Spain, competing in a round-robin format, with each team playing each other once.^[2] Three points were awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss.

Country	November 2003 FIH Ranking[3]	Best World Cup finish	Best Olympic Games finish
Argentina	1	Champions (2002)	Runners-Up (2000)
Australia	2	Champions (1994, 1998)	Champions (1988, 1996, 2000)
Netherlands	3	Champions (1974, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1990)	Champions (1984)
Spain	7	Fifth Place (1976, 1990)	Champions (1992)

Officials

The following umpires were appointed by the International Hockey Federation to officiate the tournament:

• Caroline Brunekreef (NED)
• Soledad Iparraguirre (ARG)
• Anne McRae (GBR)
• Mónica Rivera (ESP)
• Melissa Trivic (AUS)

Results

All times are local (Argentina Standard Time).

Preliminary round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	3	3	0	0	9	2	+7	9	Advanced to Final
2	Argentina (H)	3	2	0	1	10	4	+6	6
3	Australia	3	1	0	2	6	3	+3	3
4	Spain	3	0	0	3	1	17	−16	0

Source: CAH
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head result.^[4]
(H) Hosts

Fixtures

30 July 2004 11:00 Argentina  2–3  Netherlands García  36' Rognoni  69' Report Donners  4' Mulder  17' Moreira de Melo  62' Umpires: Mónica Rivera (ESP) Melissa Trivic (AUS)

30 July 2004 18:00 Australia  6–0  Spain K. Smith  2', 50' Skirving  14' Hudson  28' Powell  38' Netzler  60' Report Umpires: Anne McRae (GBR) Soledad Iparraguirre (ARG)

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31 July 2004 10:00 Netherlands  2–0  Australia Boomgaardt  25' Booij  35' Report Umpires: Mónica Rivera (ESP) Anne McRae (GBR)

31 July 2004 12:00 Argentina  7–1  Spain Aymar  30', 45' Gulla  41', 48', 51', 58' García  43' Report López  60' Umpires: Caroline Brunekreef (NED) Melissa Trivic (AUS)

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2 August 2004 11:00 Australia  0–1  Argentina Report García  3' Umpires: Mónica Rivera (ESP) Caroline Brunekreef (NED)

2 August 2004 18:00 Netherlands  4–0  Spain Boomgaardt  5' Karres  20' Mulder  59' Donners  66' Report Umpires: Soledad Iparraguirre (ARG) Anne McRae (GBR)

Classification round

Third and fourth place

3 August 2004 11:00 Australia  4–0  Spain N. Smith  12', 59' Towers  53' Dobson  65' Report Umpires: Soledad Iparraguirre (ARG) Caroline Brunekreef (NED)

Final

3 August 2004 13:00 Netherlands  5–0  Argentina Van der Vaart  8' Karres  33' Scheepstra  45' Donners  58' Boomgaardt  65' Report Umpires: Melissa Trivic (AUS) Anne McRae (GBR)

Statistics

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Status
	Netherlands	4	4	0	0	14	2	+12	12	Tournament Champion
	Argentina (H)	4	2	0	2	10	9	+1	6
	Australia	4	2	0	2	10	3	+7	6
4	Spain	4	0	0	4	1	21	−20	0

Source: CAH
(H) Hosts

Goalscorers

There were 35 goals scored in 8 matches, for an average of 4.38 goals per match.

4 goals

• Alejandra Gulla

3 goals

• Soledad García
• Ageeth Boomgaardt
• Mijntje Donners

2 goals

• Luciana Aymar
• Karen Smith
• Ngaire Smith
• Sylvia Karres
• Eefke Mulder

1 goal

• Cecilia Rognoni
• Louise Dobson
• Nicole Hudson
• Bianca Netzler
• Katrina Powell
• Angela Skirving
• Julie Towers
• Minke Booij
• Fatima Moreira de Melo
• Maartje Scheepstra
• Macha van der Vaart
• Lucía López