The first mens semifinal was between Southern neighbors Argentina and Chile. The match started with Chile on attack and in the second minute Chile’s Martin Rodriguez had the first shot of the match saved by Argentina’s keeper Juan Vivaldi. Two minutes later Argentina’s Gonzalo Peillat had a shot saved by Chile’s keeper Adrian Henriquez. A turnover by Chile’s defender Ignacio Gajardo in Chile’s defensive end helped Argentina keep the ball in their attacking end. In the 6^th minute, Matias Rey hit a hard shot at goal that was deflected into goal by Lucas Vila to give Argentina the lead over Chile. In an intense match both teams battled for possession in front of a full stadium full of Argentinean and Chilean flags.  In the 11^th minute, good defense by Gajardo and Andres Fuenzalida led to Chile’s Thomas Kannegiesser having a breakaway on attack, but Argentina prevented Kannegiesser from getting a shot off. For the remaining four minutes in the first quarter, play was in Argentina’s attacking half, but with Chile defending strong Argentina could not get another shot off before the end of the first quarter. Thus, the score remained Argentina 1, Chile 0 at the end of the first quarter.

In the first minute of the second quarter, Vila had another shot on goal, but it was saved by Chile’s defender Nicolas Renz who promptly cleared the ball out. Vila was then awarded a green card. Argentina continued to attack, however, and after Captain Matias Paredes just missed the goal in the 18^th minute, Argentina earned their first penalty corners of the match. Chile’s defense blocked up two penalty corners and on the third, the penalty corner shot by Peillat went wide. Chile earned their first penalty corner of the match in the 22^nd minute. The shot was blocked by Vivaldi and Argentina’s Joaquin Menini played strong defense to help Argentina regain possession and go back on attack. In the 25^th minute, Chile’s Fernando Binder was given a green card and Argentina continued to attack. In the 30^th minute, Argentina was awarded a penalty corner and Peillat put in his signature drag flick to make the score Argentina 2, Chile 0 at the halftime break.

The third quarter started with Argentina on the attack. Argentina’s Juan Lopez earned a yellow card in the 32^nd minute. However, Argentina continued to pressure on attack. In the 39^th minute, Argentina’s Brunet had a hard shot from the left side of the circle that was saved by Henriquez. In the 41^st minute Chile’s Sebastian Kapsch received a yellow card. Argentina ran fast back on attack and earned two penalty corners in the 42^nd minute, Peillat put in his second penalty corner of the match to make the score Argentina 3, Chile 0. In the 44^th minute, Argentina earned another penalty corner again Peillat put in the goal to increase his team’s lead to four goals.  Less than one minute later, Paredes scored to make the score Argentina 5, Chile 0.

For the first ten minutes of the fourth quarter Argentina dominated the possession in their attacking half, but Chile played good defense to prevent Argentina from having many shot opportunities. In the 57^th minute, Chile’s Sven Richter and Binder had a run on attack blocked by Argentina’s defense. Argentina continued to pressure on attack and with 10 seconds remaining in the match, Brunet made the score Argentina 6, Chile 0 to end the match.

With the win, Argentina advances to the gold medal match and Chile will play for bronze on 25 July.