Day 1 continued with men’s Pool A play at the XIX Pan American Games at Estadio Nationale in Santiago, Chile as four goals from Thomas Domene propelled Argentina 10-1 over Mexico. An excited home crowd fueled the Chileans to a dominant 15-0 win over Peru featuring 11 different scorers.
MEN Pool A: Argentina (10) – Mexico (1)
The world-ranked No. 7 Leones came out with a powerful 10-1 win over Mexico to open Pool A play. Four goals from Argentina striker Thomas Domene was a differentiator, while Matías Guzman was the lone goal scorer for Mexico.
In the second minute of play, Domene was already in action sliding two close-range shots just wide of Oscar Copado’s goal. Between Domene’s first-quarter goals, Alexander Sandoval had a chance to get Mexico on the board but his penalty corner flick was fired past the Argentina post.
Before the end of the first quarter a well-worked play from Domene to Maico Casella gave Agustin Mazzilli the one-time blast to make it 3-0. From there, it looked as if the gates were wide open but Jorge Gomez and Sandoval’s attack led to a penalty corner that forced Lucas Martinez to make as save on the line.
Mexico’s best chance came in the second quarter when Kevin Amador worked the ball well with Jorge Estrada but the blast was steered over the net by Santiago’s glove. Finally, in the 20th minute, Mexico were able to break the shutout as Amador slid the ball left to Guzman, whose low show beat Santiago to make it just 3-1.
That would be the only taste of scoring Mexico would get though. Domene showed his flicking expertise going stick-side and high to make 4-1, while Toscani tidied up a penalty corner to make it five goals for the Leones.
Second half goals from Nicolas Keenan, Maico Casella, Domene and two from Nicolas della Torre pushed the final score to 10-1.
“We started the game with some mistakes but we were able to correct them as the game went on,” said four-goal scorer Domene after the match. “The goal is always to improve our level and we knew that the debut was not going to be easy.”
“This is my first Pan American Games and we were very anxious, said goal scorer Matias Guzmán. “We left everything on the field and this tournament has just begun. We will keep working to improve. To score a goal against Argentina, which is among the top 10 in the world, feels incredible.”
MEN Pool A: Chile (15) – Peru (0)
The home side got things off to a dominant start as Chile paced Peru 15-0 in the final game of Day 1. Eleven different scorers and a pair of goals each for Andrés Pizarro, Juan Amoroso and Felipe Renz.
In just the third minute of play, Peru keeper Diego Chipana was called to action after a blast from Kay Gesswein and two from Franco Becerra. The final rebound was tapped in by Jose Hurtado to send the full stadium into eruption for Chile’s first goal. Felipe Renz made it 2-0 finishing after hard work from Martin Rodriguez on the left baseline.
The scoring continued from there as Fernando Renz blasted in a world class goal upright, on his backhand to make it 3-0. Renz finished one more after a nice passing play that saw Axel Richter cut the field in half to find Franco Becerra who then fed Renz for a 4-0 lead in the first quarter.
Despite several saves from Chipana, Chile continued to ride their scoring momentum as Axel Troncoso scored in free play, followed by an Axel Richter’s low penalty corner flick for a 6-0 score line by half time.
An nine-goal second half featured seven different Chilean scorers, including Jose Maldonado burying a penalty stroke after a sliding challenge from Chipana. Adrian Henriquez picked up the shutout after Chile enjoyed the 15-0 victory and three points in Pool A.
“It was a solid result where we were focused for 60 minutes of the game and I think we achieved the results we expected,” said Chile’s Jose Pedro Maldonado. “The atmosphere here is very exciting and what we felt it since we left the dressing room. The support is incredible and we feel very united as a team. We hope that the stadium is always full and that they continue to support Chile.”
“The first step was to come here and make a debut with all the work we have been doing for four months,” said Peru’s Vincenzo De Martis. “We’ve been getting the team roster just right since the PanAm Challenge, and now we are gaining more experience in these matches with a higher level of play. It is a great opportunity for Peru.”
