That means the Kyocera Stadium in The Hague will host a double header between The Netherlands and Australia over the weekend, with the two women's sides meeting tomorrow in their final.

After his side's hard-earned win over an England team which maintained a disciplined defensive plan throughout the match, The Netherlands coach Marc Lammers said he hoped Australia would be the opponents in the final - "because they also play attacking hockey and that is the game and the challenge that I like".

Given Australia's brilliance against an Argentinian side which has massively overachieved after arriving at the tournament ranked 11th in the world, Lammers might usefully be reminded of the phrase "be careful what you wish for".

Van Weerden's decisive contribution arrived in the 31st minute of a closely fought match through a penalty corner.

The victory meant Billy Bakker was able to celebrate his 100th international in the manner he would have wished.

Jelle Galema (left) congratulates scorer Mink van der Weerden after The Netherlands beat England 1-0 to earn a place in Sunday's Hockey World Cup final, where they will meet Australia, thus mirroring tomorrow's women's final between the two countries
©AFP/Getty Images

But England's coach Bobby Crutchley described his side's showing against the London 2012 silver medallists and World Cup hosts as "a tremendous achievement", adding: "We wanted to keep it tight and be there at the end, and to the lads' credit we did that.

"To be still in with a shout at the very end is a real positive against this team.

"We put the Dutch under pressure.

"If you had told me 12 months ago that we would compete like that with the Dutch, I wouldn't believe you."

Despite the best efforts of Ashley Jackson and Mark Gleghorne, England could not find the late flourish which had seen them leapfrog Belgium into the semi-final qualifying place thanks to a goal in the final four minutes.

Australia produced attacking hockey of the highest quality in their semi-final against a team whose performance has energised the men's tournament in the way the US women have made a mark on their side of the competition.

The Australians were ahead after four minutes thanks to Kieran Govers, and the team's youngest member Jeremy Hayward made it 2-0 after 22 minutes, with Jacob Whetton adding a third before half-time.

Chris Ciriello made it 4-0 in the 49th minute, and six minutes later Hayward scored a second before Argentina's hugely promising Gonzalo Peillat scored a rocket of a drag flick from a penalty corner to confirm his position as current top scorer in the event with 10 goals.

"We have fought for four years to get here," said the Australian captain Mark Knowles, who was in the side which took Olympic bronze two years ago.

"After London 2012 we were disappointed with how we went about things and our goal was to be in the final in this majestic stadium."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
June 2014: Aymar's injury hampers Argentina as The Netherlands' women earn Hockey World Cup final place against Australia
June 2014: Dutch men's semi-final at Hockey World Cup brought forward to avoid World Cup football game
June 2014: Australia and The Netherlands dominating Hockey World Cup
June 2014: Argentina women set pace at Hockey World Cup but suffer Aymar injury worry
June 2014: Hockey World Cup Opening Ceremony graced by King Willem-Alexander