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The second men’s FIH Hockey World League semifinals got off to a cracking start in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, with 10th ranked Argentina holding Olympic champions Germany to a 1-1 draw.
The black-and-white brigade started on an auspicious note, forcing a penalty corner inside the first five minutes. Christopher Zeller unleashed a potent drag-flick that went into the roof of the net.
Germany continued to hold sway but goals continued to elude them.
2012 FIH Young Player of the Year Florian Fuchs and talented Christopher Ruehr showed a lot of promise upfront but the Argentineans managed to keep them away from breaching their defence.
The South Americans nearly equalized when Lucas Vila slammed it wide.
Argentina upper the ante in the second half in pursuit of the equalizer, but the Germans nullified their goal-scoring designs.
With nine minutes remaining on the clock, Argentina restored parity when Gonzalo Peillat pulled off a superb short corner goal to put the onus on Germany to go all out for the full points, but both teams remained deadlocked at the end of the seventy minutes.
In another match, Pakistan rallied from 0-3 down to play out a 4-4 draw with Malaysia.
The Malaysia rode on a brace of penalty corner goals from Muhammad Razie Abdul Rahim and one from Muhammad Marhan Mohd Jalil to take an incredible 3-0 lead in the first eighteen minutes of play.
Abdul Haseem Khan reduced the margin as the Greenshirts trailed 1-3 at half-time.
Tengku Tajudin Abdul Jalil made the scoreline 4-1 before Muhammad Tousiq struck with a penalty corner goal almost immediately.
Vastly experienced Shakeel Abbasi converted a penalty stroke to keep his side in the contest.
Captain Muhammad Imran slammed home a short corner in the 61st minute to ensure a thrilling 4-4 draw.
In another game, England scored a last minute goal to hold South Africa 3-3.
The South Africans scored two early goals through Julian Hykes before leaking an own goal to lead 2-1 at the break.
Ben Arnold made it 2-2 in the second half before Tim Drummond regained the lead for South Africa by converting a short corner.
England produced a sensational PC goal from Richard Smith to ensure a 3-3 draw.
In another match, Japan clawed back from 0-3 down to play out a 3-3 draw with Korea in an-all Asian affair.
