Argentina beats Netherlands in penalty shootout, claims i...

On a chilly summer evening at the Wagener Stadion, Argentina’s women had their own Maracanazo moment. The Netherlands do not lose often. In the last 13 years, the Dutch have lost just one game per year while winning three successive World Cups. Here, too, on Saturday, they did not lose as Argentina found a way to strike late to hold the host to a 1-1 draw before snatching the title in the penalty shootout.

It was doubly sweet for the South American nation as it avenged its 2022 final loss while also silencing a partisan home crowd at one of the cathedrals of the sport. After Cristina Cosentino saved two Netherlands’ penalties, Sofia Cairo made it 3-1 when she put the ball in the net to spark the celebrations.

In a highly anticipated rematch, both teams struggled to impose themselves in open play, maybe partly due to the occasion, and partly by design.

In the opening quarter, a rare error in Argentina midfield allowed Marijn Veen to find Pien Dicke through on goal with the goalkeeper to beat. But Cosentino quickly closed down the angle before tackling the ball away from the circle.

READ | Argentina wins third title: Full list of Women’s Hockey World Cup winners

There was barely any chance inside the scoring circle with space hard to come by. It was set up for the talismanic dragflickers of the two sides to have their say from Penalty Corners.

And it needed 29 minutes and 14 seconds for the first one to arrive. The Netherlands supporters behind the Argentina goal erupted in joy when the referee put both her hands signalling for the set piece. Everyone in the arena knew what was coming when Yibbi Jansen leaned over her stick behind the circle. The Dutch defender strode up to the edge of the circle, collected the ball and emphatically whipped it to thump the board for the lead.

In response, Argentina, too, had its own cheatcode in the form of Agustina Gorzelany. But when it got its turn, four in the third quarter alone, it spectacularly squandered those opportunities. Be it with its injection or setting or drag-flicking, poor execution let the Dutch defense off the hook.

In between them, Gorzelany found her radar but Dutch custodian Anne Veenendaal stretched her right boot low to keep it out. The Argentine no. 3 was denied again in the fourth quarter by another save from Veenendaal as the Dutch inched closer to an elusive fourth successive title.

But Argentina continued to push on through Cairo, whose snaking runs into the circle troubled the home side’s defence, by winning multiple PCs. With seven minutes to go, Argentina opted for a variation, when Gorzelany fired her dragpush into the path of an Argentinian stick, who deflected for an unmarked Maria Granatto to lift the ball past Veenendaal.

In the end, it needed penalties to decide the winner, where the Netherlands slipped up early and never recovered from it as Argentina capitalised to add a third world crown.

In the third-place play-off, co-host Belgium beat Australia 1-0 thanks to a goal from Charlotte Engelbert.