Australia made a stuttering start to its Champions Trophy defense with a 3-2 win over Spain Saturday, while Pakistan squandered the opportunity for an upset victory over Great Britain. In men's hockey's last major tournament before next year's Olympics, hot favorite Australia needed two goals from inspirational skipper Jamie Dwyer to down the committed Spaniards. Dwyer admitted the Kookaburras, chasing an unprecedented fourth straight Champions Trophy, failed to live up to its billing as the world's top-ranked team and raging favorite to claim Olympic gold at the London Games. “We were very passive, we should have been a lot more aggressive and we allowed their ball carriers too much time and space,” the four-time world player of the year said. “We definitely didn't play to our potential and we're probably lucky to get the result in the end. There's no real excuses.” In the other Pool A match, Pakistan went down 2-1 to Great Britain in hard-fought match marked by committed defense from both teams. Captain Muhammad Imran, who converted a penalty corner to put his side ahead after 31 minutes, said Pakistan created numerous chances in the attacking quarter but failed to capitalize on them. “We played well but unfortunately we missed our chances and we're working on that,” he said. Britain was more clinical in the second half, taking all three points through second half goals to Mark Pearn and Richard Mantell. However, Pakistan team manager Khawaja Junaid said the Green Shirts, who shocked Australia 4-3 in Perth last month, showed they were making progress. England was runner-up to Australia at last year's event and, because the tournament in Auckland is a lead-up event for the Olympics, its players form part of a combined British team this year. In Pool B matches, Olympic champion Germany beat New Zealand 2-1 and the Netherlands defeated South Korea 2-0.
