Women Pool B - England v. Argentina: 1-2 (1-1)
A goal scored in the last second of the match meant that world number three England still have no points in this Hockey World Cup. It was a game that started so well for the team seeking to restore some pride, but eventually Argentine tenacity paid off. Speaking after the game, coach Jason Lee said that it was unlikely that his squad would have a worse hockey experience than the one they are currently going through.
Despite the range of talent at their disposal, the absence of Luciana Aymar, who is carrying a hamstring injury, seemed to unsettle the Argentine team and for the first 20 minutes they were unable to play with any flow or flair. This changed through a minute of quality from live wire midfielder, Delfina Merino, whose first fierce shot was saved by Maddie Hinch, but the England 'keeper was unable to recover quickly enough to prevent Merino pouncing on the rebound for the equaliser.
The remainder of the half and much of the second half saw possession yo-yo-ing between the two teams; and while it was not entertaining hockey, it did have the hallmark of two teams equally matched on the day. For England, this was a marked difference to their previous three matches. Passes were crisper, possession was greater and their tackles had a fight and determination to them that had been blatantly missing against China and South Africa. Argentina, by contrast, were looking less like world champions as passes went astray and they failed to make in-roads into the England circle.
As the game seemed to be moving inexorably towards a draw, both teams began to pile on the pressure. Again, England created the chances but were unable to get that all-important goal. Sam Quek summed up her teammates feelings when she said: "I just don't think luck is going our way. We played well for large parts of that game, but we just could't finish. It has been the same in every game. This has been a huge learning curve for us, but one that we will come back stronger from."
The match had 50 seconds left when England conceded a penalty corner. Hinch saved the first strike, but the ball hit a foot and Argentina had a second bite of the cherry. This time Carla Rebecchi (70') was on hand to guide the ball home and once again England were left rueing missed opportunities. For Argentina the result means they are joint top of the table with the USA. If both teams win their final pool games in two days time the final placings will come down to goal tallies.
Argentina's Daniela Sruoga said: "Today we ran too much. We need to conserve our energy so we have the strength in our legs to attack the opposition. England made us work very hard and have given us much to reflect upon."
Official Match Report (PDF)
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