Argentina skipper Lucas Rey Martin has a hidden agenda behind wanting to win tonight's seventh place play-off match against India in the World Cup. "In Argentina, football is everything. A hockey player is not even one-tenth as big as our footballers. However, India being a traditional hockey-playing country, if we can pull off a win against them, we might just be able to earn a bit of respect back home. Hockey in Argentina will receive a boost," Martin told MiD DAY.

Aussie skipper Liam de Young strikes at goal during their 2-1 win over Netherlands in the semi-final of the hockey World Cup yesterday.u00a0 PIC/AFP

India skipper Rajpal Singh meanwhile, exuded confidence when he said that the Indian team won't simply be content winning against Argentina, but would want to do so by a good margin.
'Pak could've avoided the humiliation'

Minutes after reports emerged that Pakistan Hockey Federation president Qasim Zia had sacked the national hockey team's management and dissolved the selection committee after the team finished last after losing 2-3 to Canada, it was learnt that the team members too had offered to quit given their side's worst-ever performance in a World Cup. One scribe had a rather funny take to the whole incident. "If only the Pakistan team would've known in advance that they would perform so miserably here, I'm sure they would not have turned up for the event at all. They even had valid reasons, like a security threat to the event and the recent Indian Premier League auction fiasco, to stay away."

Chance pe dance for Germans, Aussies