Argentina men have qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games following a 3-1 victory over Canada in the final of the Pan American Games, which has been taking place in Guadalajara, Mexico. It was the 10th consecutive time the two squads had met in the Pan Am Games final.
The South Americans avenged the defeat that they suffered at the hands of their Canadian opponents in 2007, when an agonizing penalty shoot-out saw them miss out on direct qualification to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Argentina were given a second bite at the cherry in the Olympic Qualifying tournaments in 2008, but were beaten to the prize by host nation New Zealand thanks to a extra time golden goal from Bradley Shaw. However, a superb second half fight-back against Canada ensured that there would be no repeat of that Olympic qualification nightmare.
Canada held a deserved 1-0 lead going into half time thanks to 25th minute penalty corner from Scott Tupper, but everything changed in the second period. Argentina found their form and eventually drew themselves level when Ignacio Bergner slammed a penalty corner into the Canadian goal in the 45th minute. The Argentines were in the ascendency, and quickly established a 3-1 lead thanks to a Pedro Ibarra penalty corner and a field goal from Lucas Vila. Although Canada rallied hard in the latter stages of the game, it was Argentina who took the Gold medal and confirmed their place at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
In the Bronze medal match, Chile grabbed a 4-3 win against Cuba in the most dramatic fashion. Chile had lead 3-1 at half time but Cuba pulled themselves level thanks to two goals in less than three minutes from Yoande Blanco Hernandez. Incredibly, Alexis Berczely broke Cuban hearts with a 69th minute winner from open play, sealing the Bronze medal for Chile.
Earlier in the day, USA defeated Mexico 6-0 to take fifth place, while Trinidad & Tobago finished seventh by crushing Barbados 9-1.
Three players finished top of the goal-scoring charts in Guadalajara. Mexico's Francisco Aguilar Montoya, Ignacio Bergner of Argentina and Canadian Scott Tupper all scored nine times throughout the tournament.
A complete list of results for the tournament can be found below. All official tournament information including detailed reports, results, tables, match sheets, scorers lists and photos can be found on the website of the Pan American Hockey Federation by clicking the following link: http://www.panamhockey.org/en/competitions
Source material - Field Hockey Canada Media Release.
Results
Wednesday 19th October 2011
09:00 Women's Group A Game 1 Argentina v Trinidad & Tobago 11-0 (6-0)
11:00 Women's Group A Game 2 Canada v Barbados 10-0 (6-0)
14:00 Women's Group B Game 3 United States v Mexico 5-0 (3-0)
16:00 Women's Group B Game 4 Chile v Cuba 6-0 (3-0)
Thursday 20th October 2011
09:00 Men’s Group A Game 1 Canada v Trinidad & Tobago 7-2 (4-2)
11:00 Men's Group A Game 2 Chile v Barbados 9-1 (4-0)
14:00 Men's Group B Game 3 Argentina v Mexico 8-0 (3-0)
16:00 Men's Group B Game 4 USA v Cuba 2-4 (1-1)
Friday 21st October 2011
09:00 Women's Group B Game 5 Mexico v Cuba 1-3 (0-2)
11:00 Women's Group B Game 6 Chile v USA 1-2 (2-4)
14:00 Women's Group A Game 7 Trinidan & Tobago v Barbados 2-4 (1-3)
16:00 Women's Group A Game 8 Canada v Argentina 3-7 (3-4)
Saturday 22nd October 2011
09:00 Men's Pool B Game 5 Mexico v Cuba 1-2 (0-0)
11:00 Men's Pool B Game 6 USA v Argentina 0-2 (0-1)
14:00 Men's Pool A Game 7 Trinidad & Tobago v Barbados 11-1 (5-1)
16:00 Men's Pool A Game 8 Chile v Canada 0-4 (0-1)
Sunday 23rd October 2011
09:00 Women's Pool A Game 9 Argentina v Barbados 19-0 (10-0)
11:00 Women's Pool A Game 10 Trinidad & Tobago v Canada 1-2 (1-0)
14:00 Women's Pool B Game 11 USA v Cuba 9-0 (6-0)
16:00 Women's Pool B Game 12 Mexico v Chile 0-1 (0-0)
Monday 24th October 2011
09:00 Men's Pool A Game 9 Canada v Barbados 10-0 (6-0)
11:00 Men's Pool A Game 10 Trinidad & Tobago v Chile 1-3 (0-1)
14:00 Men's Pool B Game 11 Argentina v Cuba 10-1 (4-1)
16:00 Men's Pool B Game 12 Mexico v USA 3-2 (3-2)
Wednesday 26th October 2011
09:00 Women's 5-8 Match 13 Barbados v Mexico 1-3 (1-0)
11:00 Women's Semi Final Match 14 Argentina v Chile 4-0 (2-0)
15:00 Women's Semi Final Match 15 USA v Canada 4-2 (2-1)
17:30 Women's 5-8 Match 15 Cuba v Trinidad & Tobago 2-1 (1-1)
Thursday 27th October 2011
19:30 Men's 5-8 Match 13 Trinidad & Tobago v USA 0-2 (0-1)
11:00 Men's Semi Final Match 14 Canada v Cuba 3-2 (3-1)
15:00 Men's Semi Final Match 15 Argentina v Chile 7-1 (4-0)
17:30 Men's 5-8 Match 15 Mexico v Barbados 10-0 (3-0)
Friday 28th October 2011
09:00 Women's 7-8 Match 17 Barbados v Trinidad & Tobago 1-3 (1-3)
11:30 Women's 5-6 Match 18 Mexico v Cuba 2-3 (1-2)
15:00 Women's 3-4 Match 19 Chile v Canada 3-0 (1-0)
17:30 Women's Final Match 20 Argentina v USA 2-4 (1-3)
Saturday 29th October 2011
09:00 Men's 7-8 Match 17 Barbados v Trinidad & Tobago 1-9 (0-4)
11:30 Men's 5-6 Match 18 Mexico v USA 0-6 (0-3)
15:00 Men's 3-4 Match 19 Cuba v Chile 3-4 (1-3)
17:30 Men's Final Match 20 Canada v Argentina 1-3 (1-0)
All times are local (GMT -5)
Final Standings - Women
1. USA 2. Argentina 3. Chile 4. Canada 5. Cuba 6. Mexico 7. Trinidad & Tobago 8. Barbados
Final Standings - Men
1. Argentina 2. Canada 3. Chile 4. Cuba 5. USA 6. Mexico 7. Trinidad & Tobago 8. Barbados
