MJWC: Argentina storm into semis
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| Argentina |
July 6, 2005
Deccan Herald
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From Anand Philar Rotterdam:
The South Americans pulled off a shock 3-1 victory over the fancied Australian outfit to move to the top of Pool ‘F’ ahead of the team they defeated.
The Argentine players may be pardoned for their soccer-style celebrations, for it took a Herculean effort on their part to pull off a 3-1 win against Australia and qualify for the semifinals of the Rabobank Junior World Cup hockey tournament for men here on Wednesday.
The unexpected win swept Argentina to the top of Pool ‘F’ standings with a tally of 11 points, ahead of Australia (10) who had already qualified for the knockout rounds. In the bargain, Germany, who hoped for an Aussie triumph that would have given them an outside chance, found themselves out of the semifinal race, notwithstanding the result of their game against Belgium later in the night.
Lucas Vila yet again played a pivotal role in Argentina’s victory. He made capital of goalkeeper David Reid’s blunder at the top of the circle to score the first goal in the 30th minute. After Australia had equalised with a penalty corner conversion by Iain Davidson in the 49th, Vila swept home from a similar set-piece to give Argentina a 2-1 lead. In the final minute, Reid was strangely immobile and allowed Manuel Brunet’s weak push between his feet for the third Argentine goal.
Wild celebration
When the full-time hooter blared, the entire Argentina team, including the bench, went into a wild celebration that would have befitted a World Cup triumph. They had almost gone off course following their goalless draw with Belgium earlier in the week, and thus, they needed a victory against Australia to qualify.
That Argentina achieved the desired result against all expectations was a tribute to their determination, though admittedly, the Aussies, with injuries to several players, lacked the focus they had shown previously.
“My boys knew they had already qualified for the semifinals and I guess, they lacked the focus. We did not do our usual running and I thought our defence, including Reid, committed far too many stupid mistakes. Also, several of our players carried injuries and hence we had to reorganise our structure,” said coach Mark Hager after the game.
It did make for a strange sight that Australia’s top-scorer of the tournament so far, Colin Hennessey, was in the left-back position rather than on the right wing. In the midfield too, the Aussies missed the sure-footed centre-half Ian Smyth who was being rested.
Free run
Under the circumstances, Argentina had a free run to the Aussie circle and with Hennessey looking rather shaky, their moves were predictably down the right flank. Thus, Argentina gradually took a firm grip and hardly allowed the Aussies to make an effective play.
“Our players were under pressure to win. Australia is a great side and I knew it would be a tough outing. But my boys did well to keep attacking and yes, we are all very excited at the prospect of playing in the semifinals,” Pablo Lombi, the Argentine coach said.
Pakistan win
Later, Pakistan struggled to a 2-1 win against Malaysia in Pool F and qualified to play for 5-8 positions with a tally of seven points. The Malaysians, who ended up with just one point, will now have to fight it out for 9-12 classification. There was little in the game for the connoisseur and suffice it to say that Pakistan, for all the pre-tournament expectations, presented a team that is simply falling apart at its seams.
For the record, Mahmood Muhammad Khalid (18th) and Adnan Zakir Muhammad (70th) scored for Pakistan after Malaysia had taken a 1-0 lead on Zulkifli Mohd Reza’s 12th penalty corner conversion of the championship in the 12th.
India score
India bounced back into contention after their shock loss to Spain with a battling 3-1 win over South Korea on Tuesday night.
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