Men's hockey: Argentina thrashed in debut against Britain

Britain defeated Argentina's national men's hockey team by 4-1 in the debut of the team coached by Pablo Lombi in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

British captain Barry Middleton was one of the stars in the match with two goals (21 and 41 minutes), while Dan Fox (48') and Richard Smith (51') netted the rest of them.

Meanwhile, Argentina's Pedro Ibarra netted the only goal of the "albiceleste" team after a penalty corner at 54'.

Britain’s hockey face-off with Argentina gave the higher-ranked hosts a chance to avenge an earlier defeat this year and marked the latest twist in a sporting rivalry stemming from the dispute over the Malvinas South Atlantic archipelago.

Diplomatic relations between the two nations have soured this year, the 30th anniversary of their brief war over the Malvinas Islands, with Buenos Aires pushing hard to have the islands recognised as Argentine territory.

Britain has refused to back down, arguing that the destiny of the islands should be decided by their 3,000 inhabitants.

Those bitter territorial tensions have spilled over into the world of sport, with media on both sides of the ocean hamming up the significance of battles on the field of play.

Argentina then touched a nerve in May with a state-supported television advertisement showing a hockey player training in the Falklands. The video ended with the voiceover: “To compete on English soil, we are training on Argentine soil.”

Although the player featured in the advertisement, Fernando Zylberberg, did not make Argentina’s Olympic hockey squads, Britain accused Argentina of abusing the Games for political purposes.

British Prime Minister David Cameron stirred things up in June warning Argentina that Britain stood “ready and willing to stand up for the Falkland Islanders at any time”.

The two teams have little history together, having only met three times in Olympic Games, all of which the British side won.

Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will not attend the Games and media have reported her telling Argentina’s 142 Olympic athletes at their send-off not to stage any Malvinas protests in London.

The Argentine national Olympic Committee quickly distanced itself from the TV video released in May.