Argentina thrash New Zealand in men’s hockey World Cup

Olympic champions Argentina lived up to their billing and beat New Zealand 3-0 to inch closer towards a direct quarterfinal spot at the men’s hockey World Cup on Monday.

Argentina were the better side on display as they created more chances and scored thrice through Agustin Mazzilli (23rd), Lucas Villa (41st) and Lucas Martinez (55th) to pocket full three points from the Pool A encounter at the Kalinga Stadium.

By virtue of two wins from as many games, Argentina are atop Pool A with six points and they have brightened their chances of a direct berth in the last eight round.


New Zealand are at the second place with three points from two games ahead of Spain and France, both of whom have one point each.

Argentina started the proceedings on a bright note and got the first scoring opportunity of the match in the fifth minute in the form of a penalty corner but they wasted the chance. Barring this, it was a dull opening quarter which witnessed a midfield slugfest.

Seven minutes from half time, the Los Leones finally broke the shackles when Mazzilli scored his third goal of the tournament.

An inch-perfect defence-splitting pass from Gonzalo Peillat found Mazzilli unmarked inside the New Zealand box and the striker first controlled the ball and then sent it crashing into board with a reverse hit as Argentina went into the halfway break with a slender one goal lead.

Argentina continued their dominance after the breather and it did not take too long for Argentina to extend their lead through Lucas Villa, who slotted home in the 41st minute after snatching the ball inside the box from the sticks of New Zealand skipper Blair Tarrant.

Five minutes from the final hooter, Argentina got their fourth penalty corner and Martinez scored from a rebound to shut the doors on New Zealand.

France hold Spain
Captain and goalkeeper Quico Cortes led from the front with a superb penalty stroke save to help three-time medallists Spain draw a hard-fought match against France in their second Pool A match. The draw kept both the teams in the hunt for the knock-out round with one point apiece from two games.

It was a battle between world No 8 Spain and the lowest-ranked team in the competition, France at No 20th, that was unexpectedly close.

France stunned the Spaniards in the sixth minute when Timothee Clement scored from a field effort. But Spain came back strongly after the change of ends and restored parity in the 48th minute through Alvaro Iglesias’ field strike. France had a golden opportunity to register their first major upset of the tournament but Spain skipper Cortes came to his side’s rescue.

Spain had lost 3-4 to Olympic champions Argentina in their tournament opener, while France suffered a 1-2 defeat to New Zealand. Spain play New Zealand in their final pool match on December 6, while France will be up against Argentina.