Hosts China blanked South Africa 3-0 and world champions the Netherlands beat South Africa 3-2 in Olympic women's hockey in Beijing Tuesday, but the real story of the day was world No. 2 Argentina took a shock draw again.
Following the 2-2 draw with the United States, Argentina drew with Britain 2-2. Argentina took a 2-0 lead at halftime with two penalty corners from Agustina Garcia and Alejandra Gulla in the 10th and 27th minutes, but in the second half Britain leveled the score as forward Sarah Thomas and Helen Richardson converting two penalty corners.
Forward Agustina said: "We got two yellow cards in the second half, because of that we could not concentrate on our game. And Great Britain made full use of that and they drew the game in the second half."
On the comeback from two goals deficits, Sarah said they played more actively than the first half and they became more confident and kept looking forward. After 5-1 loss to Germany in the first round.
She expressed the hope that in the next match against New Zealand, they would also try to make it right. "Hopefully, we will get three points."
"I think our team didn't control the field very well. If we had not allowed those penalty corners by Great Britain, I expect the result would have been different. We will call this game an experience," said Argentine coach Gabriel Minadeo.
China claimed a second win without conceding a single goal. However, coach Kim Chang Back was not satisfied with the match, noting that they were not cooperative in defense and attack. He looked forward to the game with world champions the Netherlands and had big confidence.
After a 2-2 tie, the Netherlands finally won South Korea with a penalty corner from Maartje Paumen, which was his second goal today. South Korea got one penalty and one penalty stroke both from Captain Lee Seon Ok.
The Ducth coach Marc Lammers said it was a heavy game for them and the match with China will be a really heavy game like today.
The Aussies, who beat South Korea 5-4 on Sunday, crashed Spain 6-1 for a second win. Spain got their first Olympic goal from Captain Silvia Munoz in the 6th minute, following the 3-0 loss to China Sunday.
The day also saw the 1-1 draw between the United States and Japan, and Germany beating New Zealand 2-1.
(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2008)