Olympic champions Argentina and Commonwealth Games silver medalists New Zealand registered hard-fought wins in their opening Pool A matches of the 2018 Hockey World Cup against Spain and France respectively at the Kalinga Stadium at Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
In the first match, penalty corner specialist Gonzalo Peillat and Agustin Mazzilli scored a brace each to guide Argentina to a narrow 4-3 win against Spain.
In a see-saw Pool A contest, Enrique Gonzalez handed Spain an early 1-0 lead in the 3rd minute of the game before Mazzilli deflected a cross from the right flank perfectly to the net in the next minute to level the score.
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Spain took a 2-1 lead after Josep Romeu found the back of the net in the 14th minute, however, within 45 seconds of conceding the second goal, Argentina replied back as Mazzilli struck again, levelling the contest at 2-2.
Soon, the South American nation extended the lead to 3-2 as drag-flicker Gonzalo Peillat converted a corner in the 15th minute.
However, Vicenc Ruiz brought Spain back into the contest after a field goal in the 35th minute as the scorecard was once again tied at 3-3.
In the 49th minute, Peillat scored again for Argentina after placing a shot between two defenders which the Spanish goalkeeper Fred Soyez failed to save.
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Both the sides then failed to score in the last 10 minutes of the game and Argentina clinched the nail-biting contest 4-3.
In the second match, New Zealand defeated France 2-1 after the match started on a steady note with both teams moving around with the ball.
The first attack of the match was made by New Zealand's Stephen Jenness who tried to hit a reverse shot from the close range but French goalkeeper Arthur Thieffry blocked the attempt.
Playing contrary to what their ranking on the world list indicates, France did a good job in the first quarter to restrict New Zealand. They, however, could not hold them longer. In the 17th minute of the match, New Zealand defender Kane Russell scored the first goal for his team.
France made continuous attempts to score an equalizer but the lack of accuracy and pace did not let that happen. At the halftime, New Zealand were leading the match 1-0.
The trailing side did a good work in the third quarter to build pressure on New Zealand but the black caps also did fairly well in soaking that pressure. In the 38th minute of the match, France got their first penalty corner of the game but their skipper Victor Charlet could not be accurate with his drag flick. The third quarter ended without a goal being scored.
France entered the fourth quarter hoping to turn the game around. They were going well too as they earned two back to back penalty corners in the 54th minute of the match. French defender Victor Charlet flicked the ball towards the left bottom corner but the opposition goalkeeper spoiled the party by making an easy save.
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Now it was time for New Zealand to make an attack. Unlike their opponents, New Zealand's Stephen Jenness made no mistake and unleashed a powerful backhand at the far post to give his side 2-0 lead in the match.
In the penultimate minute of the match, French skipper managed to score the sole goal for his side off a penalty corner. After full time, the scoreline read 2-1 in New Zealand's favour.
On Friday, defending champions Australia will take on minnows Ireland in the first Pool B match, followed by England-China clash.
On the opening day of the 14th edition of the tournament, Belgium and India registered contrasting wins against Canada and South Africa.
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In the tournament opener, world number three Belgium were forced to work hard by Canada in a 2-1 win, while hosts India thrashed the African champions 5-0.
(With Agency inputs)
