NEW DELHI, March 12 Argentina beat India 4-2 in the playoff for the seventh position at the Hockey World Cup here on Friday.

After Tomas Argento hit in the only goal of the first half for Argentina, the teams combined for five goals from the 42nd to 49th minutes.

Lucas Vila scored twice and Facundo Callioni added another to make it 4-1.

Sandeep Singh equalized for India, and Vijendra Singh scored the last.

India's eighth-place finish equaled the worst showing by a host, matching Argentina in 1978 and Malaysia in 2002.

In another match, New Zealand defeated South Africa 5-4 on penalties in the playoff for ninth spot.

Andrew Hayward's third penalty corner goal with no time left at the end of regulation made it 4-4 and sent Friday's match into extra time, where the teams could not produce another goal.

Then they went to penalty strokes, and both teams missed one early. At 4-4, Lloyd Madsen missed for South Africa but Dean Couzins caught South Africa goalie Erasmus Pieterse diving the other way to seal the marathon win.

Captain Pol Amat scored twice as Spain defeated South Korea 2-0 in the playoff for fifth. Amat opened the scoring in the first minute on a pass from Alex Fabrigas, and again shot on target two minutes before halftime on Friday to earn Spain a spot in this year's Champions Trophy in Germany.—Agencies