Bhubaneswar: Former champions Argentina ended France’s dream run in the FIH Junior Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup here Friday. In the first semifinal played at the Kalinga Stadium here Argentina defeated France 3-1 in penalty shoot-out. It should be stated here that France had defeated defending champions in the group stage.
The display from both teams was not worthy of a semifinal but 2005 champions Argentina kept their composure in the shoot-out. The match had ended goalless in regulation time.
In the shoot-out, Lucio Mendez, Bautista Capurro and Franco Agostini scored for Argentina. Skipper Timothee Clement was the only one who found the target for France.
The match ended on a bad note as tempers flared after Lucas Montecot missed France’s fourth attempt, resulting in almost fistcuffs. However, officials of both teams and on-field umpires rushed quickly to handle the situation.
The game turned out to be a sedate affair, at least in the first two quarters. Both Argentina and France failed to create any clear cut chances from field play. Argentina were by far the better side on display and attacked French goal on quite a few occasions.
The South Americans secured two penalty corners inside the first 10 minutes. However, on both occasions, France goalkeeper Guillaume de Vaucelles denied the opposition. Argentina got another penalty corner in the 18th minute but wasted that too.
France’s first real scoring chance came in the 25th minute in the form of a set piece but, to no avail. Both teams failed to break the deadlock at half time.
It continued to be a pale contest after the change of ends, the only difference being France coming out with more purpose and steadily getting their footing. But as has been the case there were no real scoring chances for both sides.
The Frenchmen controlled the proceedings in the final quarter.