Top teams call the shots in men's hockey

Beijing: Australia, Spain and the Netherlands broke away from the pack with their third wins to step closer to the semi-finals of the Olympic men's field hockey on Friday.

Reigning champions Australia almost certainly ended Pakistan's hopes with a 3-1 win in Pool B despite Shakeel Abbasi's stunning reverse hit opening goal in the 16th minute.

Grant Schubert drew level four minutes later and Jamie Dwyer gave the Hockeyroos the lead six minutes into the second session before Travis Brooks increased the margin in the 59th minute.

Pakistan captain Zeeshan Ashraf rued the missed chances, but said the temporary suspension of Muhammad Waqas in the first half cost the team dearly.

"Losing a player at a crucial stage of the match did not help us," said Zeeshan. "We played well and should have scored more goals but wasted many chances."

The Netherlands, losing finalists at Athens, joined Australia at the top of the pool with a 4-2 win over Canada masterminded by a hat-trick from penalty corner ace Taeke Taekema.

In pool A, a sleepy Spain proved good enough to beat hosts China 2-1, while New Zealand kept their hopes alive by ousting Belgium 4-2 for their second win in three matches.

Spanish coach Maurits Hendricks lashed out at the early morning starts at the "ghastly hour" of 8.30 am, saying the scheduling of matches was a disrespect to the top teams.

"I would like to apologise to the Chinese public and spectators who had to come out at this terrible hour," the Spanish coach said.

"China is a strong team with fantastic players. They deserve to play at prime time, not at this ghastly hour of 8:30. Spain is a top-three country in the world and China is the host country. I think we do deserve more respect."

Games organisers have scheduled two matches in the morning session that starts at 8:30 am, but the remaining four games of the day do not begin till 6:00 pm to avoid the afternoon heat.

Spain, widely regarded as the best team never to have won the Olympic gold, were woken from their slumber when Na Yubo gave China the lead in the sixth minute.

But veterans Xavier Ribas and Pol Amat scored once in either half to secure victory for their team.

Meanwhile, veteran Dutch midfielder Teun de Nooijer said earning full points against Canada was a bonus because it was not a satisfying performance by his team.

"We did not play as well as we can, but we won and that is what counts," the four-time Olympian said.

"We have two tough matches coming up against Australia and Pakistan. You cannot afford to scale back your style during the Olympics, you have to be 100 per cent all the time."