ENGLAND STOPPED BY TENTH RANKED ARGENTINA. A report from the World League in Johor.

Argentina men have defied their world ranking (10^th) by reaching the finals of the Men’s World League Round Three in Johor, Malaysia. Unfortunately it was at the expense of England.

England were three behind in the first ten minutes in their semi final match against Argentina, with goals from Facundo Callioni, Juan Garreta and Gonzalo Peillat. England managed to stem the tide, and scored from a second half penalty corner slotted in by Nick Catlin.

The match ended 3-1 in favour of Argentina, but at least England have the satisfaction of knowing that their semi final place assures them a berth in next year’s World Cup in The Hague.

England will play Korea for third place tomorrow. Korea has the distinction of being the only nation in Round Three to beat a nation in the quarter finals who had finished higher in the pool stage.  They did this by beating Pakistan on Thursday . Today they played Germany in the semi final and lost 3-1. 

Playing today for the opportunity of finishing fifth were South Africa and Japan, and Malaysia and Pakistan. South Africa lost out on a shoot out after the match finished 2-2 in normal time. Malaysia beat Pakistan 3-1.

Tomorrow’s line up will be:

7^th/8^th place: South Africa v Pakistan
5^th/6^th place: Japan v Malaysia
3^rd/4^th place: England v Korea
Final: Argentina v Germany