Pak's worst ever finish after losing to Argentina in playoffs

Kuala Lumpur, May 12 (UNI) Pakistan received a 2-4 thrashing at the hands of Argentina in a classification match here today to round off their worst-ever show -- a sixth place finish -- in the Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament.

It couldn't have been worse for the Green Shirts who had won the tournament in 1999, 2000 and 2003. Last year they finished fifth.

The Argentines took a 3-0 lead at half time and had enough in the reserves to stop a second half Pakistan fight back.

Pedro Ibarra started the scoring in the 11th minute and this was followed by goals from Lucas Rossi and Juan Garreta in the 16th and 24th minutes. The South Americans also had a few more chances at increasing the score but Pakistan goalkeeper Salman Akhbar managed to stop them in time.

In the second half, the Pakistanis played much better and Ehsan Ullah provide some glimmer of hope with a penalty corner goal in the 47th minute. Skipper Rehan Butt then added a second in the 61st minute.

But Ibarra put a stop to their fightback with a goal in the 65th minute which effectively sealed their position.

Argentine coach Sergio Vigil was very happy with the finish and felt that they have a team to build for the future.

''This is a tremendous result for us. We have improved with each match and for me it is important that the players did not allow the defeat to India affect them in the last two matches,'' Vigil said after the match.

''This tournament has been a good start to our preparations for the next two assignments which are the Champions Challenge in June and the Pan-American Games in July,'' he added.

In the play off for seventh place China defeated Canada 4-2.

UNI