IPOH, March 10 — Argentina exacted revenge for their group stage defeat and condemned Malaysia to fourth spot yesterday.
Malaysia made an inspired fightback to erase a two-goal deficit, only to see their efforts scuppered by Argentina skipper Pedro Ibarra in the 49th minute to give the Rio Olympic champions a 3-2 win.
The match started on the wrong footing for the hosts who were down after just 38 second through Juan Lopez strike while drag-flick specialist Gonzalo Peillat scored his eighth goal of the tournament ten minutes later.
However, Malaysia avoided yet another meltdown and fought back valiantly in the second quarter with two quick goals from Joel van Huizen (24th) and Faizal Saari (27th) to level the score.
Ibarra broke the fans’ hearts with a penalty corner conversion and the South Americans held on to the lead and make amends for their 2-1 defeat to the Tigers during the round robin.
Despite the heart-wrenching loss, coach Stephen van Huizen had some consolation after a spirited display from his charges.
“It wasn’t a good start, as we conceded after 38 seconds and had to chase the game. But we tightened the defence and midfield, and fought back,” van Huizen said.
“We are disappointed but I’m proud of the boys’ efforts. It was a wonderful learning experience.”
Malaysia were almost rewarded in the dying seconds of the match as they managed to score in a goalmouth scramble but the umpires ruled out the strike after the video referral.
In an earlier match, India also avenged Friday’s defeat to Ireland in the fifth placing playoff by securing a 4-1 win.
Goals from Varun Kumar (fifth and 32nd), Shilanand Kumar (28th) and Gurjant Singh (37th) while before Julian Dale pulled one back for Ireland (48th).
In the preliminaries, Ireland had beaten India 3-2.
