The New Zealand men’s hockey team suffered their third consecutive loss when they went down 2-0 to Argentina.
It was a hard-fought match in which the Argentinians grabbed a goal after 24 minutes to give themselves a cushion.
Despite having five shots at goal and six penalty corners, New Zealand were unable to find an equaliser. Their best chance was in the 58th minute when Scott Boyde became involved in a one-on-one situation with the Argentinian goalie, only for his shot to hit the upright.
New Zealand pulled their goalie, Dominic Dixon, with four minutes remaining to focus entirely on attack. The tactic could have paid off – they earned two more penalty corners – but Argentina were able to counter attack and score a last-second goal with no New Zealand goalie on duty, blowing out the score.
The New Zealanders, who have previously gone down to India and Belgium in this tournament, will be disappointed that again they were unable to convert penalty corners. They looked more threatening for long periods but goals eluded them.
New Zealand’s hopes of advancing in the tournament have all but been extinguished. They have a mathematical chance still, but their destiny is out of their hands.