Argentina beat Korea to close in on semis

Katie Reinprecht (left) and Kathleen Sharkey of the US celebrate after their win over Germany at the Hockey World Cup in The Hague yesterday. (AFP)

DPA/The Hague Argentina men defeated South Korea 5-0 in their fourth pool B match at the 2014 hockey World Cup in The Hague yesterday. With nine points now, the Leones are close to advancing to the semi-finals while the Olympic champions from Germany are likely to miss out on the medals fight. Gonzalo Peillat scored from two penalty corners in the first ten minutes to put Argentina ahead. Lucas Vila added a goal on 12 minutes to extend the lead to 3-0. The Leones remained the dominant side throughout the first half. Peillat converted another penalty corner after 20 minutes to complete his hat-trick. The second half saw Guillermo Schickendantz tipping in a high ball to seal the convincing victory. Despite walking away with a 5-3 win over New Zealand, the Germans need Argentina to lose their last group match to South Africa to still make the top two in the pool. “This was a must-win situation and we did the job,” German coach Markus Weise said. “I’m pleased with the result, we handled the pressure well.” Florian Fuchs opened the scoring after 103 seconds by converting a long pass coming from Linus Butt. Christopher Zeller could have doubled the lead for the Olympic champions in the middle of the second half but his penalty stroke attempt went wide. However, Martin Zwicker scored from a solo run to extend the lead to 2-0. The Black Sticks struck back with an Andy Hayward penalty corner goal before Zeller scored from a penalty corner to lift the score to 3-1 at halftime. Goals from Zwicker and Benedikt Furk secured a convincing 5-1 lead before Hayward added two more penalty corners goals in the last minutes of the match to shorten the score to 5-3. “Germany got off to a great early start, and we got exposed too often as we chased the game,” Black Sticks coach Colin Batch said. US keep semis hope aliveThe women’s competition saw the United States defeat Germany 4-1. With 10 points after four matches, the United States have good chances to make the top two in the pool. Kathleen Sharkey opened the scoring just before halftime. Second half goals from Caroline Nichols, Katie Reinprecht and Sharkey secured the deserved victory. Germany’s consolation goal was provided by Kristina Hillmann.England lost to world champions Argentina 1-2 in a heart-breaking fashion as they conceded a goal in the last few seconds, which meant they still have no points in this World Cup. It was a game that started so well for the team seeking to restore some pride, but eventually Argentine tenacity paid off.  For England it was the brightest of starts: seven minutes into the game an intelligent, slipped penalty corner from Kate Richardson-Walsh was turned into a goal by Alex Danson, for her first goal of the competition. This signalled a period of England pressure and some of the most composed play produced by England this competition. The match had 50 seconds left when England conceded a penalty corner. Hinch saved the first strike, but the ball hit a foot and Argentina had a second bite of the cherry. This time Carla Rebecchi (70’) was on hand to guide the ball home and once again England were left rueing missed opportunities. For Argentina the result means they are joint top of the table with the USA. If both teams win their final pool games in two days time the final placings will come down to goal tallies.India ready for Australia The Indian hockey team is geared up to take on defending champions and current World Cup Group A toppers Australia at the Kyocera Stadium today. With India registering their first win of the tournament against Malaysia on Saturday, they will now be looking forward to putting up an impressive show against the World No. 1 and two-time champions in their last pool match. The unbeaten Kookaburras will be in their quest of winning their fifth match on the trot.