PAKISTAN’S hopes of a semi-final berth got a big boost when they defeated Argentina 2-0 in their second match of the London Olympics at the Riverbank Arena here on Wednesday.

Following their 1-1 draw against Spain in the opener, the three points helped Pakistan go third in Group ‘A’ behind Australia and Great Britain.

Pakistan’s both goals came off penalty corners with captain Sohail Abbas and Muhammad Imran sharing the scoring honours.

Pakistan made an attacking start but their wastefulness in front of goal gave Argentina some respite.

In the fourth minute, Rizwan Senior failed to connect to a fine pass from the right before Rizwan Junior had a shot deflected by the Argentine goalkeeper Manuel Juan Vivaldi in the next minute.

Ten minutes later, Rehan Butt missed a golden opportunity to put Pakistan ahead after receiving the ball near the 25-yard line but could not finish with only Vivaldi to beat.

Pakistan took the lead in the 30th when Waqas Sharif was interrupted. With penalty corner ace Sohail out of the field at that moment, Mohammad Imran scored from the resulting penalty corner via a deflection off defender Manuel Brunet's stick.

Pakistan ramped up the pressure after the interval and doubled their lead in the 44th when Sohail, who missed two penalty-corners against Spain, changed his strategy and hit a rather low shot to find the cage.

Pakistan will next face Great Britain on Friday and a win against them will strengthen their prospects of reaching the last-four stage.

Pakistan manager Akhtar Rasool termed it a big win for Pakistan and expressed hope that the victory would spur his team on for their next game.

“All the boys deserved appreciation for displaying such a fine game,” Akhtar said. “The players are gelling in well and playing as a team which is a good sign. The seniors have done remarkably in motivating the team.”

Earlier, world champions Australia routed 2008 Olympic silver medallists Spain 5-0 while Britain let their half-time lead slip and were lucky to draw 2-2 in a thriller against South Africa.

Australia now have an impressive 11 goals from just two matches and leads Group ‘A’ with six points. Britain's draw keeps them second in that group ahead of Pakistan on goal-difference.

The Netherlands also took their points tally to six from two outings in Pool ‘B’ after Mink van der Weerden converted two penalty corners in a 3-1 victory over Belgium while New Zealand beat India 3-1.