Hockey World Cup 2018: Argentina vs Spain - 5 Talking Points

#4 Remarkable conversion rate of Penalty Corners

Argentina v Spain - FIH Men's Hockey World Cup

In a game which witnessed so many goals, it was good to see only 6 penalty corners were conceded in all and 4 out of the 7 goals were scored in open play.

Argentina's Tomás Bettaglio got a green card at the end of the 2nd quarter and later a yellow at a crucial juncture in the 4th quarter. However, the rest of the Argentenian team stood their ground well. There were just 7 minutes remaining on the clock when Tomás Bettaglio got the yellow. Playing a man down for 5 minutes could have really cost the Argentenians as Spain had the man advantage but luckily for them, it did not.

Spain would be a little dissapointed with their defense on certain occassions -- for letting the opposition have the tiny pockets of space -- which caused counter attacks.

As mentioned earlier, Spain scored their 2nd goal off a Penalty corner in the 14th minute. The Red Sticks got another opportunity as they won a penalty corner -- their 2nd of the match -- in the 37th minute in quarter 3 but this time the the Argentenian goalkeeper Juan Manuel Vivaldi did well to deny them.

Gonzalo Peillat of Argentina scored off their first Penalty corner which they got right at the end of the first quarter.

Argentina got their 2nd penalty corner at the end of the 3rd quarter -- right at the death just as they did in the first quarter. The Spanish keeper Cortés Juncosa made a brilliant save this time around even though it was a powerful drag flick by Peillat.

Spain got their 3rd Penalty corner at the start of the 4th quarter. 35-year-old Quemada fired it in and it went back after flicking the post. He was unlucky that time as it was a powerful drag flick and the post denied him.

Argentina got a their 3rd Penalty corner in the 49th minute. The Lions scored as Peillat went for full power with his drag flick and the ball went into the roof of the net. One of The Red Sticks' defender got a stick in the way but it wasn't enough to stop the powerful shot and Argentina led 4-3.

In all, both sides had 3 penalty corners each. The Lions converted 2 of them while the Spanish team converted 1.