“Blues” draw with Argentina in the World Cup
In a match that really looked like they could win, the Blues were held to a 5-5 draw by Argentina in their final group match in Rourkela, India on Friday. Finishing third, they will face the winner of South Korea-Germany in the round of 16 on Monday.
In a must-win match, the French men’s team (currently ranked 11th in the world) tied Argentina (ranked 7th) 5-5 (1-1, 0-0, 2-2, 2- 2) for third and this Friday in Rourkela ( India) on the last day of the World Cup Group A stage. A winner would see the Blues finish second and offer an easier round of 16. But the third, the runners-up of Group B on Monday, will face the winner of the controversial South Korea (10th) – Germany (4th) tie a little later this Friday.
Argentina, who had never beaten France at the World Cup, were likely to bow out. But after scoring three times, the Blues conceded too quickly. In the end, with less than a minute to go, they regretted CP… allowing their opponents to equalize after 10”.
With four goals, two from the penalty spot and two from penalty corners, with the fifth scored by the Argentinian against his camp, the Blues’ over-reliance on Victor Charlet must look at their defence. They converted 2 out of 4 PCs (penalty corner), while the Argentines converted 3 out of 15 PCs.
Substitute Timothée Clément came on as an attacking midfielder, replacing injured defensive midfielder Stanislas Branicki.
The blues are coldAfter two minutes, Argentina cooled off the Blues and Nicolas Keenan opened the scoring on his own in front of the goalkeeper. They lacked aggression, did not put enough pressure on the ball carrier and lost all their duels. However, when he entered the circle for the first time, 4’26” from the end of the first half, Argentinian Nicolas Delatore scored between the legs of the goalkeeper and the goal was given to Etienne Tynevez: 1-1! This goal freed the blues, who became more aggressive and collected the ball.
They were finally in the game, but missed two CPs early in the second quarter. The Argentinians would also fail two of their computers. While Matteo Desguillons was sidelined, the Argentines circled three times and had two scoring chances, but the blue-blacks managed to come out of those two minutes unscathed.
also read: Charlet, after the victory over South Africa: “We learned, we are moving forward”
Next, the Argentines took advantage of the weak defense of the “blues” to score, but the referee requested the video. He was right and the goal was disallowed as the Argentine struck with the wrong side of the stick.
After 3 of the third quarter, the Blues zone defense was pierced a little too easily and the Argentines received a PC which they concretized by Nicolas Della Torre. Three minutes later the Blues won a penalty (and not CP) Victor Charlet converted and scored his third World Cup goal: 2-2!
Poor management of highlightsTwo minutes later the Blues got a PC thanks to a high ball and Charlet scored again to give his team the lead for the first time! Although they could have widened the gap, PC cashed in and Della Torre converted one: 3-3, three minutes from the end of the quarter. This ending was complicated by a new exception.
also read: The latest in field hockey
But after 3′ of the last quarter, Charlet still scored on PC: 4-3! But the Blues mishandled strong moments and, in addition to Charlotte’s dismissal, regretted two CPs that the Argentines did not convert. However, the misunderstanding between the two blue defenders would allow Argentinean Martin Ferreiro to equalize the score 4-4, 9’30”.
With only 1’41” left, the French goalkeeper appeared and the over-attacking Blues got a penalty converted by Charlotte: 5-4, 56” left! But ten seconds later, the Argentines got a personal computer. They would multiply them and equal the fourth!
