SA lose again in Malaysia

The South African men's hockey team lost 2-0 to Argentina in the quarter-finals of the World League in Johor, Malaysia, on Thursday.

With South Africa missing key attacker, defender, and captain Austin Smith due to illness, the Argentineans capitalised with a brace from Gonzalo Peillat to seal the win.

He scored two penalty corner drag-flick goals in the 27th and 40th minutes.

South Africa withstood an early barrage from arguably the form team of the tournament.

South African player Tim Drummond, guarding the far post, pulled off two top saves on the goalline from penalty corner drag-flicks by Peillat, while on-song goalkeeper Rassie Pieterse made a remarkable save low to his right at point-blank range from Facundo Callioni.

The pressure told, and Peillat's first goal came from Argentina's fourth penalty corner.

Running the right line, South African first-wave defender Robinson had the ball deflected off his stick, the diverted flight path wrong-footing Pieterse.

Five minutes after the changeover, Peillat made it 2-0 from Argentina's fifth penalty corner, and as hard as they tried, the disrupted South African line-up struggled to put any cohesive go-forward ball together.

Argentina will play England in Saturday's semi-finals.

South Africa meets Japan on Saturday in the first of the Plate semi-finals, the first round of playoffs for fifth to eighth places.

While South Africa will miss out on the World League finals in Delhi, India, in January, victory in the Africa Cup in three months in Nairobi, Kenya, will qualify the men in green and gold for the 2014 World Cup in June.

(File Photo: Gallo Images)

-Sapa