To the glee of 6,000 fans at the Estadio Mendicini, the home side secured the 2-1 win thanks to some outstanding saves from goalkeeper Belén Succi and a winning goal with just 42 seconds left on the clock from Carla Rebecchi.

Despite the first goal coming from The Netherlands' Lidewij Welten, Argentina came back in the 31st minute when Silvina D'elia put away a penalty corner before Rebecchi fired home to secure the win.

"Happiness, joy, but we haven't won yet, we must start thinking about tomorrow," Argentina coach Santi Capurro said.

"They were in our area many times, in the first quarter our defence wasn't great, but we did sort that out."

In the other semi-final, World Cup runners-up Australia defeated New Zealand 3-0 in a shoot-out after their encountered ended in a 1-1 draw thanks to goals from Amelia Spence and Anita Punt.

Australians Georgia Nanscawen, Karri McMahon and Emily Smith all scored to steal the game from their Oceania rivals.

Another match that went into shoot-outs was the fifth-eighth place play-off that saw China defeating Germany 5-4 after a goalless game.

Both teams had chances to score during play but neither could do so thanks to a combination of good goalkeeping and poor finishing.

The resulting shoot-out was level after five attempts, but Germany's Lisa Shutze missed during the sudden death as Peng Yang was able to win the game for China.

"We played a team with a long history of playing hockey and we beat them," China's captain Cui Qiuxia said.

"We are very pleased, we needed a victory for places here, but also for confidence."

Sarah Haycroft celebrates scoring her first goal for England against Japan in the Champions Trophy ©World Sport Pics


In the other fifth-eighth place play-off, England secured a 3-1 victory over Japan in the other game of the day.

England's Hollie Webb get the scoring underway at 11 minutes, Sophie Bray doubled the score.

Japan then came back with a goal from Akane Shibata, who was celebrating her 100th cap at the start of the match, but it was not enough to hold off the dominant English side as Sarah Haycroft smashed the ball home past the Japan goalkeeper Ryoko Oie in the 49th minute.

"That was my first goal for England and it feels great," Haycroft said.

"We aimed to get width in that game and we did that - it meant I got the ball from Lily (Owsley) in a lot of space."

Tomorrow will see Argentina battling Australia for the gold in the final, New Zealand playing The Netherlands in the bronze medal match, England facing China for fifth place and Japan taking on Germany for seventh place.

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