Hockey: Juniors must beat Argentina to stay alive

The New Zealand men's team were down but not out after a bruising 2-1 loss to tournament favourites Germany at the junior World Cup in Hobart yesterday.

New Zealand will almost certainly need to beat Argentina in their last pool match to make certain of reaching the top eight for post-section play.

In a much-improved effort from their sometimes shaky 3-2 win over Malaysia, New Zealand, without injured star inside forward Ryan Archibald, went a goal down in the 20th minute when Eike Duckwitz scored from his team's eighth penalty corner.

The equaliser came in the 44th minute from a set move at a penalty corner when Lloyd Stephenson deflected home.

Timo Wess scored the winner five minutes from time - again from a good penalty corner variation.

Phil Burrows had a chance to level the scores in the final two minutes, but was denied.

Goalkeeper Kyle Pontifex again showed out. He was well supported by stand-in captain Hayden Shaw and defender Dean Couzins.

"The guys remain confident we can get through," team manager Rod Journeaux said.

"We missed [the injured] Ryan Archibald for sure, but he should be okay for the game against Argentina."

New Zealand play Argentina at 5 pm tomorrow in the last pool match of the tournament. Post-section play starts on Sunday.