Bhubaneswar: England won their first match against Argentina in five years to qualify for the semi-finals of the Hockey World Cup here on Wednesday.
Argentina, the Olympic champions, lost a contest that oscillated till the last quarter. Gonzallo Peillat (17’, 48’) scored twice for them, converting two penalty corners. But Barry Middleton (27’), Will Calnan (45’) and Harry Martin (49’) aided in the English victory.
England pressurised the Argentines in the first quarter. The numbers offer proof. They had 59% possession, 82% pass accuracy compared to Argentina’s 70%, four circle entries and two penalty corners. Argentina failed to breach the English penalty circle in this phase. Lucas Rossi rushed sans fear to block two drag-flicks of Luke Taylor, preventing England from pulling away.
England toiled in the first quarter to constrict their higher-ranked opponents. But Argentina, in the second quarter, justified their higher rank. Two minutes after the quarter started, Los Leones earned their first penalty corner. And, Gonzalo Peillat, their hitman for short corners, put them on the lead. English goalkeeper George Pinner predicted right the direction of Peillat’s drag-flick but its power, he couldn’t smother entirely. The ball hit Pinner’s right glove and sneaked into the goal under his arm.
The goal swung the match’s momentum in Argentina’s favour. They held the ball longer and invaded the England half. England waited till the 25th minute to have a shot at goal. David Condon and Mark Gleghorne played a one-two within the circle, in the right flank and passed the ball to Phil Roper in front of the goal. But the Argentine goalkeeper Juan Vivaldi kicked the ball out of danger.
Within a minute, however, England equalised. Liam Ansell dashed from the left flank, along the dotted circle, leaving behind three defenders. He, then, passed the ball to Barry Middleton, who bludgeoned the ball to left corner of the net.
In the third quarter, both teams lacked what their coaches, at half-time, said they needed for the rest of the game: patience. England got a yellow card in the 37th minute, with Will Calnan going out of the field for five minutes. Three minutes later, Peillat got a green card.
Calnan, however, put England back on the lead within seconds of his reentry. He latched on to an inadvertently deflected ball by Pedro Ibarra inside the Argentine circle and smashed it past the Argentine ‘keeper.
Peillat brought the Olympic champions back into the game, converting another penalty corner with a powerful flick in the 48th minute.
But England pulled away a minute later off a goalmouth melee with Harry Martin scoring the goal. They, then, solidified their defence, trying to hold on to the one-goal lead. Argentina’s two yellow cards in the last five minutes helped England’s cause.
