Penalty corner specialist Gonzalo Peillat’s three-goal burst kept Argentina on course for making the semifinals of the men’s hockey World Cup with a resounding 5-0 victory over Asian champions South Korea at the Kyocera Stadium here on Sunday.
logging nine points from four matches, Argentina stayed ahead of Olympic champions Germany, who are in danger of failing to make the semifinals only for the second time in World Cup history.
Peillat converted two early penalty corners to give Argentina a two-goal lead by the seventh minute. lucas Vila then scored a field goal, before Peillat returned for his third goal in the 20th minute that gave the Argentines a 4-0 lead at half-time.
Guillermo Schickendantz rounded off Argentina’s scoring midway in the second session with an open play strike.
Two-time champions Germany defeated New Zealand 5-3 for their second win in four Group B outings, giving them six points in four games. But the lone-goal losses to hosts The Netherlands and Argentina have pushed two-time champions Germany to the brink.
Until now, it was only in the first World Cup in 1971 that Germany did not feature in the semifinals.
The Netherlands have nine points from three successive wins and will play South Africa later tonight. Even a draw will take three-time World Cup winners The Netherlands to the semifinals.
Martin Zwicker scored twice for Germany today, while Florian Fuchs, Christopher Zelller and Benedikt Furk contributed a goal each. Andy Hayward scored a hat-trick for New Zealand.
US women oust Germany
The U.S. women’s team continued its surprising dominance at the field hockey World Cup, ousting Germany from the tournament with a 4-1 win on Sunday.
Kathleen Sharkey scored twice, first outfoxing German goalkeeper Kim Platten in the 33rd minute — with a shot that richocheted in off the right post — then poaching a pass from a German defender in the 52nd and slapping the ball in. Between Sharkey’s goals, Caroline Nichols and Katie Reinprecht also scored before Germany’s Kristina Hillmann pulled one back in the 60th. The U.S. leads Group B with 10 points and is all but certain of its first trip to the semifinals in 20 years.
Dutch eves in semis
Olympic silver medalists The Netherlands stormed into the semifinals of the women’s hockey World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Australia at the Kyocera Stadium.
Kim lammers opened the scoring in the 57th minute on Saturday when she darted into the scoring circle from the left flank and scored with a firm reverse hit that deflected in off the goalkeeper. Naomi an As Put the issue beyond Australia in the 65th minute when she scored with a deft placement.