Photo: One of the heroes of yesterday's match against China, Hannah MacLeod. (Library image).As predicted in yesterday's blog, England move into second place in Pool B on the back of the later results.
The news coming out of Rosario is that the hero of yesterday's match between England and China – apart from England's goal scorer Hannah MacLeod – was goalkeeper Beth Storry, who bravely defended her goal against an increasing onslaught from the Chinese. China, who are ranked third in the world, seem to have lost their winning ways of late, but they are still a formidable opponent and a World Cup victory against them must be seen as a stellar achievement.
South Africa's Pietie Coetzee gave a demonstration of her penalty corner shooting prowess with a 21 minute goal in their match against Spain. Nuria Camon equalised from a corner just before half time, but South Africa had the last word with a late second half goal from Sulette Damons to give South Africa a 2-1 victory. South Africa move into fourth place in Pool B.
The game between Argentina and Korea went with the rankings, but not by the decisive margin that might have been predicted. Carla Rebecchi's second half goal was all that Argentina had to show for the match. Argentina's 1-0 win means that they are on maximum points and retain the lead in Pool B, only separated from England by goal difference.
Pool A matches take place this afternoon (Wednesday), featuring India v Australia, The Netherlands v New Zealand and Germany v Japan. England's next opponent in Pool B will be Korea, who they play at 21:00 BST on Thursday. Although ranked as outsiders, Korea have China's scalp under their belt already and were only narrowly beaten by Argentina. They may prove a real test for England.
Pool tables can be found at our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk. Navigate to the World Cup page.
