The South Americans are masters of football, amalgamating speed and skill at the international level of competitions. The Argentinians were runners-up to Brazil in the recent confederation Cup at Frankfurt.
How well the former displayed their soccer mode and method at the 16-nation Junior World Cup of hockey in the Dutch city of Rotterdam was witnessed when their harmony and combined thrust helped them lift the Roger Danet Trophy, defying all odds and brushing aside the challenge of the original favourites, Australia.
The winners, runners-up to India in the last edition of championship at Hobart in 2001, were unbeaten in the eight matches they played in the tournament. However, the final in sizzling atmosphere saw the Argentine fortitude in defence and pace in forward forays.
They came from behind in the first session and had an edge over the Aussies in the second stanza to run away with the honours of the junior World Cup when Pedro Ibarra's booming drive went crashing into the Australian net.
The success of Argentina was no flash in the pan for in the second phase of the competition they had thumped the Down Under outfit by 3 -1, going full throttle to the delight of the onlookers.
They had also settled the pretensions of Germany in the round - robin tussle and had brought down the well-trained Spaniards. The South Americans made heavy weather of the Spanish defence.
It is to be seen how the Argentine combination faces at the senior level of hockey contests where Australia holds a high position as Olympic title - holder in Athens and the European heavyweights viz. the Netherlands, Germany and Spain are billed as powerful formations for their impressive measure of co-ordination and cohesion.
Distressing and disappointing was the overall performance of the Pakistan side, which slipped to a seventh placement, the poorest show yet in the tournament's history, considering that they were winners at the inaugural junior contest at Versailles in 1979.
It was literally a fall from grace and many former Olympians are pointing accusing fingers at the incompetence of hockey officialdom, forgetting that even Germany and the Netherlands had chinks in their armour and their juniors dropped to sixth and fifth in the final placings.
Agreed that there were flaws in the training process, nobody has pointed out the deficiencies in the style and system of the game. Or what should be the future planning, whether it should be based on the Asian pattern or it should be discarded totally in favour of the Occidental one? The old-timers struck gold through the penetrative streak of the Asian ploys.
Should the systemisation be entirely overhauled? This is an important question to be answered and decided by the stalwarts of yore.
It is true that the Pakistani players were slack from the start while dealing with the weak combinations like Belgium and Chile. The Pakistanis faded away after Australia and Germany did not allow them much room to manoeure manoeuvre the in league ties.
The drawn encounter against the ultimate winners, Argentina, came as a heavy blow to Pakistan. The Argentinians were not in peak form as in other matches. They had conceded the lead to Pakistan in the 58th minute. They had wasted a stroke and sent astray as many as 10 penalty corners.
Yet seven minutes from time they fruitfully cashed in on a penalty corner award that saved their blushes and made them an unbeaten side with a spotless record in the league stage and latterly in the second round.
The juniors having failed in their bid to enter the penultimate stage unfolded proficiency by beating Malaysia comfortably by a margin of 2-1. However, defeat against the Netherlands was the last straw, especially when one looks at the whopping margin of 4-1.
Pakistan had snatched the lead in the initial part of the first half and kept it intact till the breather. Yet the cascade of moves by the Dutch boys after the lemon time pushed Pakistan into the area of darkness.
Not only the defence and midfield buckled under pressure the raiders too were no where to be seen. It was just a one-way traffic to the surprise of the Pakistani supporters and the thrill of the understanding Dutch spectators. Pakistan went down pathetically in the league duel.
There was a consolation win for Pakistan in the 7-8 play-off when they thrashed South Korea by a tennis score. The North Asians had started strongly by downing Spain 3-1 but spluttered out like a wet squib in later matches. It is not known why their training mode has gone awry.
The junior band is the grass-root level of a country. It is necessary to hone up their training and style of play if the country is to go up the ladder of global hockey.
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