Hosts India aim to register back-to-back wins as they take on Argentina in the semi-final of the Hockey World League Final at Bhubaneswar, today. India in the quarter-final of the tournament produced a spirited performance and edged out Olympic silver medallist Belgium. Having beaten one tough team already, India now face Olympic Champion and World No.1 Argentina. India's unpredictability and inconsistency in the tournament has been working in their favour as it is making it difficult for the other teams to observe the Indian side. And this unpredictably about India is something that is troubling Argentina ahead of semi-final clash. Being wary about India's unpredictability, Argentina's drag-flick specialist Gonzalo Peillat said that India are a tough team to beat as one can't predict how will they come out in a game.
India and Argentina have so far played 46 games against each other, out of which India have won 26, lost 16 and four ended in a tie. In fact, India were the only team that defeated Argentina in the pool stages (2-1) to their way to gold medal triumph in 2016 Olympics. Argentina had finished third in Pool A with just one point, scored through field strikes from Lucas Villa (21st minute) and skipper Mattias Paredes (29th), and a penalty stroke conversion by Juan Gillardi (34th) to eke out their first win of the tournament. The Indians played attacking, fast-paced hockey and ticked all boxes against Belgium, stunning them 3-2 in the shoot-out after both were locked at 3-3 at the end of the regulation time.
Live Hockey Match Updates Between India vs Argentina, HWL Final 2017 at Bhubaneswar, Odisha
20:33 IST: Three minutes left in the third quarter and India still looking for chances to score. Argentina has been impeccable throughout the game.
20:27 IST: No, they can't equalise! India waste back-to-back penalty corner opportunities. Poor play from the hosts.
36' PC to India and @rupinderbob3's shot is saved by the GK.
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) December 8, 2017
#JunoonJeetKa #INDvARG #HWL2017
20:25 IST: India receive a penalty corner! Can they capitalise?
20:20 IST: Welcome back to the second half of the game. India will aim to up their ante and score goals against the World No 1.
20:10 IST: In the second quarter of the game, Indian attack could not go past the rock-solid Argentinian defence and failed to create goal-scoring chances. However, Argentina kept possession of the ball for most of the time and came close to extend their lead.
20:09 IST: India trail Argentina 0-1 at half-time.
HT! India go into the break looking to mount a fightback in the second half of the Semi Final at the Odisha Men's #HWL2017 Final in Bhubaneswar against Argentina on 8th December.#JunoonJeetKa #INDvARG pic.twitter.com/BSo1Nl8WK7
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) December 8, 2017
20:07 IST: India, at the moment, are not being able to break the Argentinian defence.
20:02 IST: Few minutes left in the second quarter and India don't seem to be posing any threat to their opposition.
20:00 IST: Manpreet Singh receives a yellow card for a tackle, dismissed for ten minutes. India down to 10 men now.
19:59 IST: Argentina looks compact and in control of the game in the second quarter.
19:54 IST: GOAL! Argentina take the lead in the game with a 17th minute penalty corner goal.
17' PC to @ArgFieldHockey and @GPeillat makes no mistake to put them ahead.
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) December 8, 2017
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JunoonJeetKa?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JunoonJeetKa #INDvARG #HWL2017
19:50 IST: Second quarter begins! Will India be the one to score first?
19:47 IST: India 0-0 Argentina at the end of a thrilling first quarter.
19:43 IST: Brilliant play from SV Sunil as he enters the Argentinian box, flicks the ball inside but could not penetrate the defence.
19:37 IST: Argentina has lost their referral in first few minutes of the game.
19:35 IST: Save! Argentina makes a dangerous penetration inside the circle as Lucas Villa flicks the ball inside as Indian goalie Akash Chikte dives and clears the dangerous ball.
19:32 IST: India look super energetic as they have already penetrated the inner circle thrice.
19:30 IST: Hello and welcome to the live blog of the semi-final match between India and Argentina straight from Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar.
If their pool campaign was lucklustre, the Indians displayed much-improved show in all departments of the game last night. But it is not as if India didn't create chances in the pool matches, but they lacked in finishing. India's chief coach Sjoerd Marijne said his wards will have to dish out a similar performance as against Belgium if not better, if they hope to tame Argentina.
