Los Leones did their part. Argentina defeated India 5-3 in their final match of the second round of the Hockey World Cup being held in the Netherlands and Belgium, and finished Group E with six points. The result was not as comfortable as it had seemed: Lucas Rey’s team went up 5-1 and almost paid dearly for it at the end, when India pulled two goals back in the final three minutes. After the 2-2 draw between the Dutch and England, they sealed their place among the top four teams in the tournament. Germany will be their semifinal opponent.
The start was spectacular. Joaquín Toscani opened the scoring before the first minute was up, and Nicolás Della Torre extended the lead after five minutes with a penalty corner to make it 2-0. India responded and Sukhjeet Singh pulled one back to make it 2-1, but Argentina answered emphatically in the second half.
Tomás Domene, the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals, stepped up again: he made it 3-1 and then scored from a penalty for 4-1 in the third quarter. Lucas Toscani capped the scoring run with the 5-1 goal with seven minutes left, a lead that seemed more than enough to secure the win without any scares.
However, India did not give up. Sukhjeet Singh made it 5-2 with three minutes left to play and, with just 30 seconds remaining, scored again to complete his hat trick and make the final score 5-3. Los Leones made things difficult for themselves at the end, but held on to the result and picked up the three points they needed to fight for a place in the semifinals.
With six points in the second round, and after the 2-2 draw between the Netherlands and England, Los Leones secured their place among the top four teams in the tournament. The Dutch finished first in Group E with 7 points, while Argentina took second place with 6, ahead of England (4) and India (0).
The semifinals will be played on Friday, August 28: the Netherlands will face Spain in Amstelveen, and Los Leones will take on Germany at Belgium’s Belfius Hockey Arena (starting at 3:30 p.m. Argentina time).