TERRASSA, July 29: Pakistan salvaged some pride and avoided the group stage wooden spoon by edging out Argentina 2-1 in the Champions Trophy on Saturday.

The teams were already guaranteed to finish as the bottom two in the six-team table, and hence face a fifth place play-off on Sunday, after managing just a point each in their previous four matches.

But Pakistan at least will take a psychological advantage into Sunday's match after this smash-and-grab victory.

Argentina dominated the midfield and pressured Pakistan into several turnovers yet failed to turn chances into goals until Matias Cammereri converted Argentina's sixth penalty corner two minutes from the end.

Pakistan, meanwhile, scored from their only two first-half chances.

Rehan Butt deflected in a cross from Mohammad Saqlain from the right and Shakeel Abbasi converted a penalty corner to give Pakistan a 2-0 lead before the break.

Despite the defeat, Argentina coach Sergio Vigil was not too downhearted.

“I was happy with the structure of Argentina's play today and I can see they are improving from the last match against Australia,” said Vigil, referring to his team's 6-0 hammering two days ago.

Pakistan coach Asif Bajwa was relieved to have finally managed a victory.

“It was good for the players to take our first win in the tournament although we will need to analyse what went wrong in the second half as we play Argentina again on Sunday,” he said.

However, Bajwa reacted angrily to suggestions in Pakistan's media he had resigned following Tuesday's record 9-2 loss to the Netherlands.

“I have never resigned,” Bajwa said.

“I will see the President of Pakistan's Hockey Federation after this tournament and make my recommendations and we will decide what will happen next.

“I am the coach now and I will be the coach again tomorrow and I have never made a statement nor talked to anyone about resigning as has been reported in parts of Pakistan's media.”—AFP