KUALA LUMPUR, March 2: A controversial 38th minute penalty stroke left Pakistan’s World Cup campaign virtually in tatters as they crashed 1-2 to defending champions Holland Saturday.
Pakistan, a goal down at half-time, were dealt the crushing blow when Derk Jaap Buma was tackled by midfielder Muhammad Usman in a manner that should have earned the Dutch a penalty corner at the most.
But Danish umpire Henrik Ehlers pointed towards the penalty spot and the reliable Bram Lomans came in to take it and sent goalkeeper Muhammad Qasim the wrong way with swift flick.
Falling two goals behind, Pakistan briefly went into a state of shock, before they picked themselves up to get one back through Khalid Saleem in the 55th minute.
The defeat saw Pakistan reeling in fourth place with nine points as Holland swept to the top of Pool A with 13 from five matches and two games still to go.
For the green shirts, the task of making the semifinals has now become even more difficult and they would need to beat Spain Sunday and then title-favourites Germany on Tuesday.
In what was one of the best matches yet, Holland zoomed ahead through Bram Lomans who blasted in off a 10th minute penalty corner set-piece, their second of the half.
Pakistan, for the first time in the competition seemed to click in a match played at a cracking pace with crowd support at the Pitch No 2 identical for both sides.
The four-time champions had most of the play in the first session and could have scored first through penalty corner expert Sohail Abbas but the man who has been a life-saver for them in the past could not deliver.
Blocked by Dutch goal-tender Guus Vogels off the first in the 5th minute, the 26-year-old defender flicked high over the crossbar from the second penalty corner five minutes later.
The Dutch bidding to match Pakistan’s record of four world titles, had their share of chances with Remco van Wijk and Piet Hein Geeris looking particularly dangerous and Qasim having to make some spectacular saves.
Pakistan, who saw their World Cup run being put off-track by Argentina who beat them Thursday, made several attempts through Kashif Jawaad, captain Muhammad Sarwar and Shahbaz Ahmed but could not convert chances into goals.
ARGENTINA WIN AGAIN
Argentina stayed in the run for a place in the semifinals picking up an easy 3-1 victory over Belgium.
Argentina’s third win in the tournament brought their points total to nine from five games in Pool A.
Argentina went 1-0 up with a goal from Rodrigo Vila, who fired in from penalty corner set-piece with just a minute to go for half-time.
A penalty stroke converted by the experienced Jorge Lombi on the 44th minute seemed to put Argentina in control. But the Belgians hit back the following minute when Charles Vandeweghe scored before Lombi showed his prowess again, hitting the third in field play, six minutes from time.
AUSSIES ROUT JAPAN
Australia, winners of the World Cup in 1986 continued their brilliant run in the tournament walloping Japan 5-0 to stay at the top of Pool B with an impressive 15 points.
The Aussies had a two-goal advantage at the breather through goals from Jermey Hiskins and a short-corner put in by Matthew Wells.
Craig Victory then netted the first of his two goals in the second half on the 50th minute to make it 3-0. Matthew Wells got his second of the match off a penalty corner before Victory sealed it all at the fag end, putting in a short corner.
FIRST VICTORY FOR INDIA
India beat point-less Cuba 4-0, their goals coming from Dilip Tirkey and Daljit Singh, both from short corners and the third in field play scored by Sonkhla Deepak Thakur while captain Baljit Singh Dhillon rounded up the scoring in the second half.
MALAYSIA TRIUMPH
Malaysia carved out a sensational 2-1 win over England to sit in fourth place.
Maninderjit Singh Sidhu set the ball in motion for Malaysia, converting a 9th minute penalty stroke while Nor Mohammad enhanced that in the second half from a penalty corner.
England came back to score one late in the game, Dave Mathews getting the honours.
S. KOREA CRUSH POLAND
Olympic silver medallists Korea hammered Poland 4-0 to make it five out of five in Pool B. The Koreans stand second in the group with 15 points. The strong and well-drilled Koreans got all their goals in the first half through Jong-Hyun Hwang, Jung Chul Kim, Kyung-Seok Kim and a penalty corner strike from Jung-Seon Lee. Poland, whose only victory was against Cuba, defended well in the second half to frustrate the Koreans.
GROUP A
Germany 2 New Zealand 1
Spain 2 South Africa 2
Belgium 1 Argentina 3
Pakistan 1 Netherlands 2
Group B
Japan 0 Australia 5
Cuba 0 India 4
South Korea 4 Poland 0
England 1 Malaysia 2