A week overshadowed by an off-field political ‘hockey row’ between the British and Argentine governments ended with a bruising 2-0 victory for the British women over their South American counterparts in the London 2012 test event final at the Olympic Park here on Sunday.
Leicester defender Crista Cullen scored two second-half penalty corners but went off injured immediately after the second with an ankle problem. And striker Alex Danson later exited, visibly distressed, with a left shoulder injury after a collision with a defender and was taken straight to the dressing room for treatment. The 26-year-old has a history of shoulder trouble dating back to before the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the British team have yet to confirm the severity of her injury. Cullen, however, did manage to attend the post-match trophy presentation albeit on crutches.
Victory came after Britain — who went through the tournament without conceding a goal — beat Argentina by the same scoreline on Saturday.
That pool fixture that took place 24 hours after London was angered by an Argentine government advertisement Friday showing Argentina men’s hockey captain Fernando Zylberberg training on a war memorial in the Falkland Islands capital of Stanley which honours British sailors who died in World War I.
The ad was aired on Argentine television amid high tensions between the two countries as they both mark the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war over the British-held islands and carried the tagline: “To compete on English soil, we train on Argentinian soil.”
British players insisted Saturday they were unconcerned by the advert and, after Sunday’s match, women’s coach Danny Kerry was far more worried by the way in which, in his opinion, the umpires had failed to clamp down on Argentina’s physical approach.
