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NEW DELHI - World and Olympic champion Germany is aiming to make the World Cup field hockey final by avenging a loss to England in the title encounter of last year's European Cup, while Australia faces three-time winner the Netherlands in the other semifinal.
Germany, aiming for a third straight World Cup title, faces England, which is into its first field World Cup semifinal since losing to Australia at that stage in 1986.
Matthias Witthaus, Moritz Furste and Jan-Marco Montag are the only players from the 2006 champion team left in Germany's squad that went on to win the Olympic title at Beijing in 2008.
But once again, Germany has proved that it can produce a young team capable of carrying on the legacy of past World Cup victories.
"I never had any preference about our semifinal opponent," said German coach Markaus Weise, whose pre-Cup expectation was of reaching the final.
England's resurgence started at the European Cup, where it beat Netherlands en route to the final, where it beat Germany 5-3.
Despite being hit by a series of injuries just ahead of the tournament, England scored four straight wins in the ongoing World Cup to secure entry into the semifinals.
England's impressive show here began with a stunning 3-2 victory over Australia, which was considered among the title favourites here after winning the Champions Trophy in a resounding manner three months ago.
During the World Cup, England has lost its main defender Richard Mantell through injury.
Germany's strongest challenger in recent years has been Australia, which clinched its first Olympic Games gold medal at Athens in 2004.
After twice failing to beat Germany in the finals of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, the Australian team this time is working under Ric Charlesworth, who was captain of the team that won the 1986 World Cup and is now among the world's leading coaches.
Australia recovered from the loss to England to top Pool B, igniting hopes of repeating the form that its performance from the Champion Trophy - the Kookaburras produced a stunning rally from a two-goal deficit at halftime to beat Germany 5-3 in the December final.
Leading the Australian charge are striker Jamie Dwyer, the 2009 world player of the year, who scored the winning goal for Australia in the 2004 Olympic Games final against Netherlands. The support for Dwyer comes from Grant Schubbert and penalty corner specialist Luke Doerner.
"There's hard work to be done. It will be important to hold on to the ball in the semifinal against Australia," Dutch coach Michel van den Heuvel said.
Despite a late loss to South Korea, the Dutch edged the Asian champions on superior goal difference to secure a place in the semifinals.
With seasoned players Teun de Nooijer, Ronald Brouwer and penalty corner specialist Taeke Taekema in the ranks, the Netherlands are hoping to reproduce the glorious form that helped earn the country three major titles in a row - 1996 Olympics, 1998 World Cup and the 2000 Olympics.
Winless Canada finished sixth in Pool A and will play Pakistan to decide 11th place on Thursday.
