If it was tough for the Kiwis, spare a thought for the British. Our commonwealth cousins are never short of a reason to grumble but this one seemed justified. For the second successive day, the British team had the 3pm kickoff, the hottest part of the day in this city 300km northwest of Buenos Aires.
"It is ridiculous that two of the best teams in the world [Holland and Great Britain] had to play in these conditions," said British coach Danny Kerry. "It is wrong. The people who have made these decisions should go out on to the field and run around to see what it feels like."
Kerry's team have been victims of a certain hometown bias in the draw, which has seen all Pool A matches scheduled for either 12.30pm or 3pm, while Pool B games are at 5.30pm or 8pm. It is unfair but there are solid reasons; Argentina is the drawcard for the vast majority of fans here and hence play at 8pm every night. Any earlier and the crowds would be sparse in a country where dinner is served from 9pm and a Boca Juniors v River Plate football match on Monday night didn't kick off until after 10pm.
Still, the heat on Monday was almost indescribable.
Between matches and at halftime spectators abandoned their seats to seek shade below the grandstand while television production workers could be seen lying under their broadcast trucks.
Thankfully respite is on its way. On the street today the locals were adamant "Vay a lluviar manana" (It's going to rain tomorrow) and here it becomes a talking point; it has only rained three days since the beginning of December.
It will mean cooler temperatures and should help the New Zealanders.
"I'm not sure - maybe the rain will make it muggier," said Black Sticks coach Mark Hager. "But yes we have struggled to acclimatise this time."
After New Zealand's less than glorious summer, it was difficult for the team to arrive into sauna-like temperatures in mid January and they have not adapted well. It can't be an excuse but it is one of the reasons for the constant second-half struggles on this tour.
"In the first half we have been competitive most of the time before falling away in the second," said Hager. "It is a factor but there are other ones - like attitude, basic skills and cohesion - that have been much more important."
Those are the areas that need to improve today if the Black Sticks want to compete against Germany. The Europeans were smashed 4-2 by a rampant Argentina on Monday but showed plenty of courage to come back from a 4-0 deficit and with a bit of luck could have snatched a draw.
Though Hager is reluctant to specify his preferred quarter-final opponent, logic would have it that they would want to avoid both Great Britain and Holland, currently the top two in Pool A.
This would most likely require a Black Sticks win today which would guarantee them (at least) second place in Pool B and a probable match-up with China or Japan.
Herald on Sunday writer Michael Burgess travelled to Argentina with assistance from Hockey NZ.
