England stun Oly champs Argentina to reach semis
BHUBANESWAR: One would never have expected England to come this far in the hockey World Cup. After being held by debutants China in the opening pool game and then losing to Australia, even they would’ve been planning an early flight back home. But the last pool game against Ireland revived them and their crossover win over New Zealand earned them a quarter-final berth.
With the momentum of the last two games behind them, England stunned reigning Olympic champions Argentina (3-2) to become the first team to secure a semi-final berth.
“At one stage, we were not thinking of a semis berth. We were playing good hockey in patches, but today the entire team played a consistent game,” said England’s Mark Gleghorne.
England dominated the first quarter with 60% ball possession, but couldn’t score in the face of a stout defence. Argentina dragflicker Gonzallo Peillat was on target in the second minute of the next quarter. Experienced Barry Middleton got the equaliser in the 27th minute. The last minute of the third quarter saw England’s Will Calnan scoring a field goal.
England continued to dominate, though Peillat again equalised with his deadly drag flick in the 48th minute. But Harry Martin restored England’s lead soon.
AUSTRALIA IN SEMIS
France’s dream World Cup run came to an end after a 3-0 quarterfinal loss to Australia, who scored all three through penalty corners. Jeremy Hayward, Blake Govers and Aran Zalewski scored in the fourth, 19th and 37th minutes, respectively. In the semis, they will face the winners of the India-Netherlands quarter-final.