QUARTERFINALS 1
ARGENTINA 1 GERMANY 2
Reigning champions Argentina crashed out of the Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup, losing 2-1 to six-time champions Germany in a high-tension quarterfinals match at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil this morning.
Tears of joy flowed in the German camp as they celebrated their passage into the semi-finals of this 13th edition of the JWC, and stayed on course for their dream of a seventh World Cup title. They will play the winner of the second semi-finals match between the Netherlands and India.
The Argentinians could not produce the same magical touch that saw them thump the Germans 4-2 in the final of the 2021 JWC held in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, for their first title in 16 years.
Forward Hugo van Montgelas lit the first spark for the Germans with a 32nd-minute goal from open play, and Jakob Brilla extended the lead seven minutes later via a penalty corner conversion. Argentina pulled one back through Agustin Bonanno from open goal in the 48th minute.
The Argentinians had a great opportunity to restore parity from a penalty stroke in the 51st minute, but Bautista Capurro squandered it. The Germans also had a goal disallowed in the fourth quarter.
Tensions, however, ran high after the match as players from both sides almost came to blows and had to be restrained by team officials.
Rein van Eijk, Germany coach, said:
“It was a very emotional situation after the match. There was a lot of exchange of words between players from both sides, and tension built up. Our game plan was to keep a cool head, and I think we did pretty well. We got into a position that we want to go 2-0 up. The game plan was very efficient.
It was a very deserving 2-1 win. The last 6 minutes of power play by Argentina saw us keep on fighting. I am very happy that we have qualified for the semifinals. We knew it was going to be a tough match. Now we welcome the winner of the Netherlands-India match.”
Juan Gilardi, the Argentina coach, said:
“The German players were screaming at our players after the match and when you are losing its not nice to receive this kind of reaction. One of the German officials even held our player by the collar, and we are going to view the video footage and lodge a complaint with the FIH. What happens in the match stays in the match.
We cannot complain about this defeat. We had 8 penalty corners and a penalty stroke. But we did not score. In the last quarter, we played much better and started to feel more comfortable on the pitch. The team is sad that we lost this match.”