For the women’s Olympic tournament, Pool A, the group of six in which the United States is not participating, is the Pool of Death.

Three of the six teams in the pool — Holland, Australia, and Spain — have won either World Cups or Olympics since 1990. A fourth is the host nation, China.

Let’s examine the participants:

AUSTRALIA

How they got here: Won silver medal at Oceania Cup.

Players to watch: Nikki Hudson, Emily Halliday, Madonna Blyth, Rachel Imison.

Outlook: Winners in 1996 and 2000, the Hockeyroos are looking to get back onto the top step of the medals stand after a subpar result in Athens. The team’s all-for-one attitude will be put to a stern test, since not much is expected from them. Should make the top two in the pool for the medal round, but they don’t want to leave qualification late for their final pool match against China.

CHINA

How they got here: Host nation.

Players to watch: Zhang Yimeng, Ma Yibo, Song Quingling, Zhao Yudiao.

Outlook: You know how they say that in soccer’s World Cup, a host nation can often have an advantage of one to two goals per match? In China’s case, the advantage could be even greater. Song Quingling may become the brightest young star in world hockey if she does well in the tournament.

KOREA

How they got here: Won qualifying tournament in Victoria, British Columbia.

Players to watch: Seon Ok Lee, Da Rae Kim, Young Hui Moon.

Outlook: A very good team that probably felt a bit insulted that they had to go through one of the three last-chance qualifiers to get to the Olympics. The team will feel as though it has something to prove to the FIH that perhaps the qualification system was flawed.

NETHERLANDS:

How they got here: Silver medalist from European Championships

Players to watch: Fatima Moreira de Melo, Minke Booij, Lisanne de Roever

Outlook: The world’s top-ranked team and the defending Olympic silver medalists, Holland should get through to the semifinals. Emphasis on “should.” The strength of the pool, however, makes the Oranje’s road to the finals extremely difficult. Moreira de Melo, with her modeling, TV appearances, and recordings, is a celebrity in Holland on the level of a David Beckham. Booij is the current FIH World Player of the Year.

SPAIN

How they got here: Won Baku qualifier, then had to wait five weeks before being cleared of doping charges.

Players to watch: Gloria Comerma, Silvia Munoz, Maria Jesus Rosa.

Outlook: An example of home-field advantage in the Olympic field hockey tournament, Spain won Barcelona 1992 and have done little since. Four years ago, the team finished 10th and last at Athens. But after what FIH and Azerbaijan put them through the last few weeks with the doping charges, this team could be a very difficult and motivated foe.

SOUTH AFRICA

How they got here: Won African continental championship.

Players to watch: Marsha Marescia, Mariette Rix, Fiona Butler, Shelley Russell.

Outlook: Seven years ago, South Africa toured the U.S. and was just beginning to integrate its hockey team — not just racially, but when it came to where the players attending school. You see, the 2005 Champions’ Challenge team did not have a single player from the powerhouse St. Mary’s School of Johannesburg. That’s the equivalent of not having a single player from Voorhees Eastern (N.J.) or Emmaus (Pa.) on the U.S. national team. But the current pool has Shelley Russell, Cindy Brown, and Lisa-Marie Deetlefs, part of the St. Mary’s team that toured the U.S. in 2004 and won a tournament in Virginia Beach. The opposition in the final of that invitational was East Chapel Hill (N.C.) featuring a fine midfielder named Michelle Kasold, who is currently on the U.S. alternates’ list.

Tomorrow: Pool B.