The victory for Argentina meant they booked their semi-final place, while South Africa’s winless run means they will sit at the bottom of the log in the group standings.
South Africa, who were trounced 7-1 by the Dutch in their last match, were put under pressure from the opening minutes and goalkeeper Rassie Peterse did well to keep the score board blank for a while.
A goal was eventually conceded in bizarre circumstances, when a mix-up between Erasmus and his teammates allowed for the South Americans to score a soft goal.
Their missed chances were capitalized on by Argentina to double their lead going into the interval, and the same occurred in the opening of the second-half as they lacked the fire power to break through.
With about 10 minutes to go Clinton Panther showed exceptional individual brilliance when he dribbled his way through the defence to score his side’s only goal of the match, but the Proteas’ defensive frailties were exposed when Argentina scored two more goals to run out winners.
