BHUBANESWAR: Argentina has had a tough Hockey World League Final so far. They lost to Belgium in their opening match, played out a nail-biting draw with Netherlands and on Tuesday were stunned by lower-ranked Spain. The group stage standings might be immaterial to who enters the Knockouts but for a team who is the current Olympic champion, these strings of result don’t do justice to the tag.

Drag-flicker Gonzalo Piellat put the blame on Argentine forwards saying even though they were controlling the game better in the beginning, the support upfront was missing. “We controlled the game well. I think, our forwards weren’t up to the mark today,” Piellat, who was the leading goal-scorer at the 2014 Hockey Men’s World Cup said after the match.

When TOI asked whether his team will have to revise their strategy for the knockouts, Piellat hinted it need not because the team will improve as a majority of players in the team are new to the setup and will take some time before getting used to it. “See, we have around nine new players at the moment. They need to get used to the system. It will take some time. Some players don’t have much experience. It is quite difficult for them to just come in and get used to it. If we push harder, we can get the wins,” the 25-year-old said.

While he agrees that results of the pool stage aren’t that important but they do decide whom a team faces in the knockouts and they have now set their sight firmly on the upcoming matches. “What position you finish in the league stage will decide whom you face in the quarters. But we might finish at the top in pool but lose in the quarters. Our focus is now firmly on the knockouts. We will do our best,” he said.