by Hockey Supporter
9. June 2009 08:07
Still reigning Junior World Champions Argentina struggled in their match against Belgium today but were able to secure a win that sees them to the top of the table in their pool. Spain also had difficulties with their opponents from England, but eventually came through with a 2:1 win that also sees them to the top of their pool table.
Argentina defeat Belgium 3:0 (0:0)
The titleholders from Argentina started with some difficulties today, facing Red Devils who came out blazing. The Belgians had a good number of chances and were the more dangerous team in the first half, while Argentina could hardly penetrate the opposite circle and struggled with individual mistakes.
The only penalty corner of the first half went to Argentina, but Belgian goalkeeper Jeremy Gucassof produced a solid save to ward off the attempt. The teams thus headed into halftime without any goals scored.
Five minutes after play resumed, Agustin Mazzilli made good use of a mistake in the Belgian defense to get his team on the scoreboard. Suddenly finding themselves one goal down after having had the much more promising opportunities had a visible effect on the Belgians, with the first crack appearing in their discipline and mistakes starting to creep in.
A penalty corner soon after was warded off, as well as the rebound, but on the fourth attempt Alan Andino found the net to make it two goals for Argentina. Belgium now started falling apart, feeling the physical effects of the intense game and growing desperate over the hard luck they were experiencing.
To add insult to injury, Alan Andino netted again shortly before the end, making it a clear victory for Argentina in a game in which Belgium would have deserved more but found the titleholders to have the self-confidence, patience and perseverance of champions.
Spain defeat England 2:1 (2:0)
Like Argentina before them, Spain entered the today's match as favorites to take home three points, but found themselves faced with potentially more resistance than expected.
Their English opponents, who have clearly rebounded well from the disappointing defeat in their opener, played a determined, high-powered game in which they had good opportunities and, as the Belgians before them, may well feel hard done by by the loss.
Spain first scored early in the first half but couldn't do more than secure the lead until the dying seconds of the first 35 minutes when Xavi Lleonart finished off a brilliant diagonal pass from the middle with a great run, lobbing the ball in the net for Spain's second goal.
The second half had chances on both sides, but neither team could score in a game that got increasingly rough as the minutes went by, interrupted several times for injuries and cards, with a total of four yellows, two on each side.
With only minutes to go, Spain had a penalty corner that failed but sparked a frantic English counter-attack that yielded their first and only goal through Alex Edmonstone. With England attacking deperately to salvage a point from the encounter, time ran out fast and England couldn't do much but look up at a scoreboard proclaiming their second consecutive defeat.
Argentina - Belgium 3:0 (0:0)
ARG - Agustin MAZZILLI FG 40m
ARG - Alan ANDINO PC 53m
ARG - Alan ANDINO FG 69m
Spain - England 2:1 (2:0)
ESP - Salvador PIERA FG 13m
ESP - Xavi LLEONART FG 35m
ENG - Alex EDMONSTONE FG 69m
(source: worldhockey.org)
