New Zealand paid for a sluggish start by losing 1-2 to Argentina last night, their third consecutive defeat at the Sultan Azlan Shah men's hockey tournament in Malaysia.
Tournament leaders Argentina exacted some revenge on the Black Sticks, having lost to New Zealand in the final of theOlympic qualifying tournament at Auckland three months ago.
New Zealand opened the seven-nation tournament with victory over India but have since suffered losses to Pakistan, Malaysia and Argentina, leaving them with little chance of reaching the final.
Last night's match followed a two-day break but the Black Sticks were slow off the mark.
Argentina forward Martin Juan Lopez giving them the lead in the ninth minute, beating two New Zealand defenders before pushing the ball into goal.
Eight minutes later, they increased the lead off a penalty stroke to Ignacio Juan Gilardi, the player brought down, who comfortably flicked it to the right of goalkeeper Paul Woolford.
New Zealand, struck back through Ben Collier in the 27th minute from the top of the circle but there were no goals for the remainder of the game.
The Black Sticks had the begger of the second half, earning five penalty corners, but goalkeeper Manuel Juan Vivaldi proved unpassable.
New Zealand manager Kevin Marr said while the result was disappointing, the performance against one of the form teams of the tournament was pleasing.
Their next match was to be played tonight against Canada.
Argentine coach Jose Carlos Retegui said his team were delighted to avenge their defeat in Auckland and to be leading the tournament standings.
In other games today, Belgium beat Pakistan 5-3 and Malaysia drew 2-2 with Canada.
