Bhubaneswar: In what can be dubbed as the most exciting and keenly-contested match of the Men’s Hockey World Cup so far, Argentina registered a slender 4-3 win over a fighting Spanish side in their Pool A encounter at the Kalinga Stadium here Thursday.
The match started with Argentina taking control, but Spain turned out to be more opportunistic. Enrique Gonzalez snatched a ball and hit it into the goal from the left flank to open the account for Spain as early as in the third minute. Argentina retaliated quickly and Mazzilli Agustin struck a fierce hit from the left corner just a minute later. The keen contest between both the teams continued and both missed some scoring opportunities by a whisker.
Spain earned a penalty corner in the 14th minute and Romeu Josep converted it to give his team the lead again. Argentina weren’t much behind and got a penalty corner as well in the 15th minute and Agustin again shot the equaliser. They got another penalty corner immediately after and Gonzalo Peillat duly converted it to increase Argentina’s lead to 3-2.
The first quarter was a keenly contested affair – witnessing a see-saw game. But Argentine were slightly better with the scoreline reading in their favour.
Strangely, both the teams adopted defensive approaches in the second quarter. Though the pace of the game increased, the ball was mainly confined to the midfield. It was a barren quarter in contrast to the first one which saw a flurry of goals.
After the change of ends Spain came back strongly and Ruiz Vicenc cleared the huddle in the goal mouth in the 35th minute to equalise the score again. They continued with the surge and earned a penalty corner just after two minutes, but Argentina goalkeeper Santiago Tomas made a valiant acrobatic save. Argentina secured a penalty corner in the last minute of the third quarter, but Spain custodian Garin Mario stood like a rock to thwart Gonzalo’s powerful hit. The third quarter ended with a 3-3 deadline as both teams failed to break the deadlock.
With the start of the all important decisive final quarter, both the teams increased their intensity. Spain earned a penalty corner in the 47th minute, but Quemada Pau hit wide of the post missing a golden opportunity to take the lead.
Then it was Argentina’s turn to bag one in the 49th minute. Penalty corner specialist Gonzalo made no mistake this time to break the deadlock making it 4-3 for Argentina as the full capacity audience in the stadium enjoyed it to the hilt.
