Perfect Peillat puts Argentina into final and ends Germany men's hockey reign
Peillat scores three goals to put out the London 2012 champions and steer Argentina to their first men's hockey final in the Olympic Games
Argentina players celebrate after upsetting Germany 5–2 in the men's hockey semi-final (Photo: Getty Images/David Rogers)
Argentina will win their first Olympic Games men's hockey medal after a first-half hat-trick from Gonzalo Peillat helped them beat defending champions Germany 5-2 in their semi-final at the Olympic Hockey Centre on Tuesday (16 August).
Peillat scored three-from-three from penalty corners to take his tournament-leading tally to 10 goals, before Agustin Mazzilli put on a brilliant assist in the third quarter by chipping at full stretch over an on-rushing German Nicolas Jacobi for Joaquin Menini to tap home Argentina's fourth.
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Lucas Vila then made it 5-0 with a field goal to put an exclamation mark on Argentina's progression to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games final, before Germany scored two late consolation goals through Moritz Furste and Christopher Ruhr.
Juan Vivaldi was terrific in goal for Argentina and made 10 saves, including some important stops during the second quarter as Germany tried to hit back.
The loss ends Germany's quest for a third successive Olympic Games gold medal in men's hockey.
In Thursday's final, Argentina will face the winner of the semi-final clash between in-form Belgium and the Netherlands, the London 2012 silver medallists.
