Argentina bags FIH Odisha Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup 2021 title
By Swagatika Bhutia
Bhubaneswar, Dec. 5: Argentina on Sunday evening once again exhibited its enviable prowess in the final of FIH Odisha Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup by registering a stunning 4-2 victory over six- time champions and title favourite Germany.
The high-voltage summit clash here at the Kalinga Stadium saw the Argentineans winning the title for the second time.
The winner dominated proceedings in the first quarter against the Germans and earned their first penalty corner in the 10th minute. Striker Lautaro Domene struck a howitzer from the left corner of the post to open the account and continued the tempo throughout the first quarter to put Germans on the duck. Though the European heavyweights got a good chance of scoring in the last minute, Argentina goalkeeper Nehuen Hernando deflected it away from the post to deny the opposition a certain scoring opportunity.
The Germans showed some hints of comeback in the beginning of the the second quarter. However, it missed a couple of opportunities by a whisker.
Giving any opportunities to Germany, Argentina came back strongly to create a second penalty corner which was beautifully converted by Domene through a tactical camouflage. They continued their momentum to maintain the 2-0 lead till the half time as Germany missed a penalty corner in the last minute.
Germany showed resilience in the second half and Julius Hayner struck a brilliant hit from the left flank to reduce the lead to 1-2. Argentina tried their best to put a game on with increasing intensity, but failed to score. The third quarter ended 2-1 in Argentina’s favour.
In a bid to find the equaliser, the Germans were relentless in their attack in the fourth and last quarter as well. In the process, they got four successive penalty corners in the 46th minute and in the last chance Masi Pfandt grabbed the opportunity to find the equaliser.
However, Argentina’s fiery attack earned the team with a penalty corner. Domene was again on target to increase their lead to 3-2. The Germans came out with all guns blazing during in the last minutes of the match. Franco Agostini scored the fourth goal to help his team to win the coveted title.
