Men Pool B – Argentina vs. South Africa: 5-1 (2-0)

Argentina made history when they beat South Africa 5-1 to qualify for the semi-finals of the Rabobank Hockey World Cup. Los Leones have never qualified for the semi-finals of a senior major tournament in their 121 year history, so this was a special moment for Carlos Retegui and his men.

South Africa had chances, notably in the early stages of the second half, when Justin Reid-Ross was unlucky not to see his cracking shot beat Juan Vivaldi in the Argentine goal. But really this was South American party-time as the men in blue and white scored five goals, displayed outrageous skills and flirted with self-destruction when they were reduced to nine men on the pitch for several minutes during the second period of play.

The Argentine team took the lead in the 20th minute through Joaquin Menini – the ball was stolen from the South African defender and Menini took full advantage, slamming the ball past Erasmus Pieterse to make it 1-0. The lead was doubled within three minutes when Gonzalo Peilllat again found himself on the scoreboard. The goal was a penalty corner, but it was not a typical Peillat rocket, but rather the ball trickled over the line after Pieterse made the initial save.

A fabulous goal from Lucas Vila (49') sealed the victory for Los Leones. The midfielder picked up the ball just outside the circle and taking the ball wide of the defender, slammed it home with a reverse stick shot into the roof of the South Africa goal. This goal was followed by a few moments of Argentine madness as Juan Lopez, Manuel Brunet and Matias Paredes were all dismissed from the pitch with yellow cards within a crazy five minute spell. South Africa worked hard to press home their three man advantage but found the Argentine resistance, led by Lucas Rey, to be unbreakable.

It was actually when Argentina had a full complement of players on the field that South Africa made their only breakthrough. Timothy Drummond, who had a great game for the Lads, led the attack. His shot called for a great double save from Vivaldi, but his efforts galvanised the South Africans and minutes later Clinton Panther (57') was able to beat the defenders and slam home the ball.

Rather than letting any panic set in, Argentina gave the best possible response. First Peillat scored his second, bringing his tournament total to X, then Vila scored his second of the match, a fantastically taken shot following a kinking run through the defence that left Pieterse with no chance of making the save.

South Africa's captain, Austin Smith said: "We were less disciplined than Argentina. When they were down to nine players we didn't take our chances. We created like a million chances and didn't score from them." Coach Fabian Gregory added: "For this match I might have got my tactics wrong. We should have pressured them earlier in the game. I am disappointed that we couldn't even put the ball on the foot to get a corner."

In their classification match South Africa face Malaysia, Gregory said this was an important game, both for final positions and for ranking points. "We want to finish higher than our ranking, so when we play Malaysia there is still a lot at stake."

A delighted Agustin Mazzilli said: "We have made history, for the first time in our history we are in the semi-finals. We know that people back home are watching and supporting us and we are determined to do well for all of them. Our team is successful because we have a good defence and Gonzalo is exceptional at the corners. We must make sure that we are disciplined and don't lose players to cards. We will not be able to afford to go to nine men against Australia." 

In the semi-finals, it is most likely that Argentina will face reigning champions Australia, although there remains a slim chance that Argentina will finish top of the pool if the Netherlands lose to Korea later today.

Official Match Report (PDF)

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