The heart-stopping finish spelt the death knell for world No. 2 Argentina in this World Cup
With four seconds to go for the final hooter and the score 2-3, England goalkeeper George Pinner had probably the most important save to make in the entire tournament.
The ball fired in from a distance, it deflected off an Argentina stick amidst the flock of players inside the circle. As alert as in the first second, Pinner placed his left hand out and stopped the ball from heading into the goal, and with it the match into a penalty shootout.
The heart-stopping finish spelt the death knell for world No. 2 Argentina in this World Cup, the Olympic champions crashing out after losing to the seventh-ranked Englishmen in the quarterfinals at the Kalinga Stadium here on Wednesday.
In a high-quality match where the pendulum swung constantly, England’s ability to cut through the Argentine defence and manufacture field goals blunted Argentina’s biggest weapon Gonzalo Peillat, who flaunted his jaw-dropping skills yet again to convert two penalty corners (PC).
The world’s best dragflicker got the Argentines off the mark in the second quarter, striking a thunderous ball low to the right of Pinner. Less than five minutes to half time, Barry Middleton got the equaliser for England.
Then came an action-packed, end to end five-minute passage of play that saw three goals being scored in either side of the final quarter break.
Will Calnan got England ahead in the 45th minute, only for Peillat to get Argentina back in the 48th minute with another PC conversion, this time the ball bouncing into the goal after squeezing through Pinner’s legs. But all England needed was a minute to get their noses ahead, Harry Martin providing a skilful final touch to a brilliant burst of pace from the midfield.
It ended a below-par campaign for the Argentines, who brought the tournament to life when they were stunned by France in the league stage.
France exit
The Frenchman, however, realised the difference between playing the Olympic champions and the world champions, failing to recreate the shock against Australia in the second quarterfinals.
France, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, were just no match to the mighty Aussies, going down 3-0. That the Aussies didn’t pump in more goals was credit to the French defence, which withstood 31 circle entries and seven PCs from the two-time defending champions.
Australia will take on the winner of the India-Netherlands match in the semifinals on Saturday.
STOPWATCH: England 3 (Barry Middleton 27, Will Calnan 45, Harry Martin 49) beat Argentina 2 (Gonzalo Peillat 17, 48), Australia 3 (Jeremy Hayward 4, Blake Govers 19, Aran Zalewski 37) beat France 0
PLAYING TODAY (semifinals)
Germany vs Belgium, 4.45pm India vs Netherlands, 7pm
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