Great Britain thrash Olympic champions Argentina

Adam Forsyth and Phil Roper bagged two goals each as Great Britain's men put Olympic champions Argentina to the sword in a dominant 5-1 away win in the FIH Pro League.

The historic result in Rosario saw the visitors make it three wins from four games in the tournament as they continued their excellent form in front of goal.

Britain started quickly and, after two saves from goalkeeper Juan Vivaldi prevented the away side from taking an early lead, Forsyth finally opened the scoring in the 20th minute.

The Scotsman, who had celebrated his 27th birthday the day before, won and then converted a penalty stroke early in the second quarter after his goalbound effort hit a foot on the line.

The lead was doubled soon after when Sam Ward scored past Vivaldi with a superb drag flick on 26 minutes, after GB men had successfully won a corner on review.

Roper was the next on the scoresheet following the half-time interval, strengthening Britain’s lead on 37 minutes with a simple finish after Ward’s initial shot was blocked.

Liam Ansell then came close to making it four with a quick counter attack, before Britain were reduced to ten men with a card as Argentina hit back through Matias Paredes.

But while the hosts gave Britain goalkeeper Harry Gibson more to do, it was the visitors who finished the game stronger as they score two more goals in the final quarter.

With Argentina withdrawing Vivaldi in the closing minutes in an effort to narrow the deficit, Forsyth struck again with a neat finish to deflect the ball into an empty net.

And Roper matched his teammate with his second of the game with a fine solo effort, racing into the circle and slamming the ball home on the reverse to complete the scoring.

The result means Britain now have the best goals-per-game ratio in the league, with 17 goals in just four matches, and assistant coach Russell Garcia was delighted with their display.

“I’m really proud of our performance,” he said. “We took control of the game and exhibited passion throughout for both the sport and each other.”

Meanwhile, GB’s women were unable to get the better of Argentina in their match, losing 4-2 as Grace Balsdon and Sarah Jones scored goals for the Olympic champions.

Their next fixture is against Germany in Monchengladbach on April 24, before the men’s teams go head-to-head four days later.