Two-goal hero Alan Forsyth hailed a ‘massive’ result as Great Britain thrashed Olympic Champions Argentina 5-1 in their FIH Pro League match in Rosario.
“Winning away is massively important. It’s very tough coming to a place we’ve not played before as a team. Playing against the reigning Olympic champions we knew it was going to be difficult.”
“We’ve come away from home had a few days training and then straight into the match so it’s a great win for the team” said Forsyth.
Photo: Simon Parker
Great Britain had the better of a goalless first quarter, testing Los Leones goalkeeper Juan Manuel Vivaldi on a number of occasions. However the home goalkeeper was powerless to stop Forsyth breaking the deadlock in the second quarter. The Scotland star slotted home from the penalty spot for his first goal of the FIH Pro League.
Six minutes later it was 2-0. Sam Ward rifled home a fierce penalty corner for his 56th international goal and Great Britain were in complete control at the half-way point.
After the break Great Britain picked up where they left off, dominating the play against an increasingly frustrated looking Argentina. With 37 minutes on the clock Phil Roper made it 3-0 with a tap-in from close range after Ward’s initial shot was blocked.
Matias Paredes gave the home side something to shout about as he pulled one back reducing the arrears to 3-1. Argentina gambled on trying to force a way back into the match, taking off Vivaldi to go to 11 outfield players. It was a move that immediately backfired as Forsyth turned James Gall’s cross into an unguarded net before Phil Roper added his second, Great Britain’s fifth to round off a dominant performance from the visitors.
A delighted Forsyth was named player of the match and told BT Sport afterwards:
“Playing against Argentina on their home patch is pretty tough so I think it’s great to get the win going forward. Parts of the game weren’t quite there but we stuck at it. Even when we didn’t have the right tempo we stuck at it and sneaked a goal that settled us down early second half. We’ll try to take that forward to the Germany game in a couple of weeks.”
Great Britain are now third in the FIH Pro League table with a win percentage of 75%, the same as second-placed Belgium and just behind leaders, Australia.
The Top of the D 
Impressive performance from the GB boys, completely kept Argentina out of the game. The telling stat for me was Argentina only winning one penalty corner, which reflects their lack of time in the GB circle. No ARG in the GB D.
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