Argentina vs Chile Friendly Series: Las Leones win the first game by 2-1 – Men’s Hockey
Argentina's Projection Group London 2012 preparations commenced with a friendly three-game series against Chile that started off on Monday, May 16 in Cenard. The first match concluded in favour of Argentina with a 2-1 victory over the Chilean side.
In the first half, both teams played a high-speed game which saw a lot of attacking moves from in both halves. However, the Chilean side drew first blood on the 25th minute mark, when they scored the first goal of the match.
Within the next couple of minutes, Las Leones penetrated into the defensive circle of Chile and after a series of passes, the ball landed in front of Fernando Mondaca, who fired a shot towards the Chile goal and leveled the tie at 1-1.
Argentina soon took the lead through Francisco Menini, who scored in the 31st minute. The first half ended with Argentina leading Chile 2-1.
In the second half, both teams had equal opportunities to score but their failure to avail those chances saw no changes on the scoreboard.
Pablo Lombi, the Technical Director of Argentina, was happy with the performance of his team but was a little disappointed the team didn't take all their chances. According to him, the team could've won the match much more convincingly and with a bigger
margin had they been prolific in front of the Chile goal.
Lombi is experimenting with various player combinations ahead of Projection Group London 2012 which will help him in determining his tactical approach for the tournament. The players who shine in these friendlies will have a great opportunity to feature
for the Argentinean national team in the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The next match of the series is set to take place on May 17 in Cenard. The 16-man squad to feature in the next match includes; Juan Manuel Vivaldi, Juan Espinosa, Fernando Zylberberg, Lucas Argrento, Matias Gonzalez, Matias Vila, Lucas Cammareri, Cabrera
Agustin, Nicolas De La Torre, Alan Andino, Nahuel Alanis, Fernand Mondaco, Castle Ignacio, Basterra Facundo, Nicolas Garrone and Santiago Garrone.
After the France tour, the national team’s coach has kept the team occupied with practice matches and friendlies, like the Chile series, in order to prepare the team for the upcoming Pan American Games that will be held in October in Guadalajara, Mexico
this year.
The three-match series against Chile will end on May 19.
Tags: