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Argentina defeat New Zealand in qualifier

Argentina beat hosts New Zealand 3-1 in a men's Olympic qualifying field hockey match yesterday to remain the only unbeaten team after four rounds at the six-nation tournament.

Both New Zealand and Argentina were previously unbeaten but, boosted by Rodrigo Vila's two goals, Argentina won a match which was regarded as a preview of Sunday's tournament final. The winner of that match will play at August's Beijing Olympics.

Lucas Cammareri put Argentina ahead with a 17th-minute field goal and they never relinquished the lead.

Vila scored his first goal from a free hit five minutes later, giving Argentina the 2-0 lead they carried to halftime.

Argentina sealed the match when Vila capitalized on a defensive error to score again early in the second half. New Zealand's only goal came eight minutes from full-time, when Dean Collier broke the defense from a free hit.

New Zealand must now beat France today to take their place opposite Argentina in the final.

France beat Trinidad and Tobago 5-2 to join the hosts on a 3-1 record after four games. Matthieu Durchon scored twice for France, who also got goals from Martin Genestet, Frederic Soyez and Gerome Branquart.

The Caribbean side, whose goals came from Wayne Legerton and Nicholas Wren, have yet to win at the tournament but have improved steadily since a 12-0 loss to New Zealand in their opening match.

Mark Gleghorne scored five goals as Ireland beat the US 8-0. Ireland needed a win by 10 goals or more to displace New Zealand.
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