AUCKLAND, Feb 5: Brothers Lucas and Rodrigo Vila scored a goal apiece to help Argentina remain unbeaten after the third round of a six-nation men’s field hockey Olympic qualifying tournament on Tuesday.

Argentina, ranked No 7 in the world, rallied to beat France 4-2 and to move closer to a place in Sunday’s final, the winners of which qualify for August’s Beijing Olympics.

New Zealand maintained their unbeaten record and stayed on track to meet Argentina in the final when they beat the United States 4-0, while Ireland downed Trinidad and Tobago 7-2.

Nicolas Gaillard opened the scoring to give 16th-ranked France an early lead.

Lucas Vila equalized with his seventh goal of the tournament and Argentina took the lead three minutes later with a field goal from Rodrigo Vila.

The South Americans increased their lead to 3-1 at halftime with a goal from Juan Garreta.

Frederic Soyez pulled one back for France midway through the second half, but Lucas Cammareri sealed the win for Argentina when he scored off a centering pass from Lucas Vila.

The win followed Argentina’s 9-1 victory over the United States and a 7-1 win over Trinidad and Tobago in earlier matches at the tournament.

Mark Gleghorne scored twice as Ireland posted their second win in three games.

Phelie Maguire, Eugene McGee, John Jermyn, David Hobbs, Ronan Gormley also scored for Ireland, while Marcus James and Nicholas Wren sounded the board for Trinidad & Tobago.

Phil Burrows scored two goals, including his 100th for New Zealand, while Simon Child scored from the field and Hayden Reid converted a penalty corner.—AP