New Delhi: Argentina, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany made the semifinals of the men’s hockey competition at the Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, leaving world champions Australia on the sidelines.
Argentina battled their way past Spain to secure their place in the final four, where they will go head-to-head with reigning Olympic champions Germany — who produced a staggering fight-back from 2-0 down to defeat New Zealand.
Belgium will face European champions Netherlands, who dismantled Australia by a stunning 4-0 scoreline.
The fourth quarter-final was unquestionably the most dramatic of the day, with New Zealand giving holders Germany a huge scare before eventually suffering the most painful of defeats.
The Black Sticks took a shock lead against the Beijing and London champions when the impressive Hugo Inglis scored a fine solo goal three minutes into the second quarter. Shea McAleese doubled the New Zealand advantage when he touched home a penalty corner with just 11 minutes of the match remaining.
The last 10 minutes saw Germany piling on the pressure before eventually going for broke by replacing goalkeeper Nico Jacobi with an outfield player with six minutes remaining. German captain Moritz Fürste scored two penalty corner drag-flicks to restore parity before Florian Fuchs netted a brilliant winner with just 1.4 seconds on the clock.
Earlier, Spain fell to a 1-2 defeat against Argentina with Los Leones and Juan Gilardi netting one each for the Pan American champs.
