Canadian Men Win GOLD!!!

(Final)  Argentina – Canada: 2 -  2 (ps: 4-5)

A large audience was on hand to support the finalists, Argentina in their traditional light blue and Canada in red. The two teams were quickly in action, with the first chance for Argentina on a penalty-corner by Jorge Lombi, expertly saved by Paul Wettlaufer.

Argentina had all the pressure but the Canadian defense was tightly knit and well marshaled by Rob Short. Finally in the 19th minute, Rodrigo Vila found some space in the crowded circle and hammered a shot from close range that left no chance to Mike Mahood.

Tempers were flaring on the field and the umpires had to stop the game a few times to cool down the protagonists. The Canadians created some dangerous situations around the Argentinean circle and forced two penalty-corners but could not capitalize. Canada maintained their pressure for the end of the half and forced two more penalty-corners but Argentina absorbed the pressure, although they were clearly stretched at times, having to commit fouls to break down the plays (and earning a yellow card in the process).

The game opened up in the second half, with Argentina missing a diving deflection after a swift counter-attack the whole length of the field. With score remaining at 1-0, Argentina seemed to take control of the game but conceded an unforced penalty-corner, giving the chance to Wayne Fernandes to tie the game in the 47th minute. Argentina was suddenly less dominant, their plays seriously hampered by the aggressive Canadian style, and they had to rely on manufacturing fouls to force penalty-corners. On one of them, top scorer of the competition Jorge Lombi gave back the lead to Argentina.

Canada was not down yet and, with the minutes ticking down and the Argentineans fans already singing in the stands, Connor Grimes penetrated the circle and unleashed a cracker that stunned Manual Vivaldi in the Argentinean goal, forcing overtime with “Golden Goal in effect”!

The two teams were cautious during the overtime, worried to commit “the” mistake that could decide the game. Argentina had a penalty-corner in the second overtime but Lombi was not on the pitch and the opportunity was wasted, pushing the game into a dramatic penalty-stroke competition. In should be noted that, in this extremely tense situation and with every ball counting, the Argentina had the fair-play to give back a ball to Canada after an injury to their Captain Rob Short.

In the penalty-strokes competition, a Canadian miss was immediately redeemed by a save by Mike Mahood and the two teams finished the first series of strokes still deadlocked. In the “sudden death portion”, Jorge Lombi’s attempt was saved by Mahood, leaving Wayne Fernandes with the possibility to finish the contest. He didn’t falter and slotted the ball spectacularly in the roof of the net, sending the Canadians not only on the top step of the Pan American podium but also to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Game report courtesy of Yan Huckendubler