The former Pakistan champion came back twice from a goal deficit to tie the game, but the 2013 winner Argentina were too strong on Sunday as they won 4-3 in their round match preliminary of the FIH Odisha Junior Men’s World Cup. With this victory, Argentina qualified for the quarter-finals with two wins in three games in Pool D.
Spain also reserved their spot for the round of 16, beating South Korea 9-0 in a Pool C meeting as they finished with six points from two wins, finishing second behind the Netherlands, who beat the United States 14-0 at Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday.
These two clashes were the key matches on Sunday as the winners would advance to the next round and therefore all eyes were on the results of these matches.
Pakistan and Argentina were set to win their last group game after losing to Germany in their previous matches. It was Argentina who got off to a good start as they took the lead with Bautista Capurro scoring a goal in the 10th minute. Pakistan equalized the score within minutes of the start of the second quarter, with skipper Abdul Rana scoring a penalty corner.
Argentina scored within three minutes when Ignacio Nardolillo scored a goal but the lead was short lived as Rizwan Ali made it 2-2 in the 28th minute when he converted a shot from penalty. Argentina then scored twice in 12 minutes with Francisco Ruiz and Ignacio Ibarra each scoring a field goal for the South Americans to 4-2.
Pakistan fell back one goal when Aqeel Ahmed scored from the penalty spot. Pakistan created some pressure in the closing minutes of the game but failed to equalize.
Spain had no such worries, they dominated Korea with brothers Pepe and Pau Cunill scoring a brace each, as did Abajo Ignacio. Fortuno Guillermo, Eduard de Ignacio-Simo and Rafael Vilallonga each scored one goal as Spain put in a solid performance.
In other Sunday matches, the Netherlands beat the United States 14-0 while Germany offered Egypt an 11-0 record as the two teams topped their respective pools with a record of victories.