RIO DE JANEIRO -- For a few hours Thursday evening, Argentina seemed to have annexed an acre of blue turf on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.Attracted by the prospect of seeing the mens field hockey team win a first Olympic field hockey gold medal, hundreds of Argentines flocked to Deodoro Park and turned it into a raucous downtown Buenos Aires-like scene.Vastly outnumbering fans of Belgium, another first-time finalist, in a nearly packed stadium, Argentinas supporters tirelessly sang and chanted from long before the matchs start -- giving Leones (Lions) the home advantage.Leones rewarded their fans with a 4-2 victory in a gripping final.Really, I cant believe it. I felt more excited when we got to the semifinals, Argentina captain Pedro Ibarra said. We are finished and we are happy, but I dont think we realize we are (Olympic champions).The disbelief was understandable. Los Leones have always been the sideshow to the acclaimed womens side, Las Leonas, who medaled at the previous four Olympics. But the Leonas never won Olympic gold.Carlos Retegui, a defender for 17 years on so-so mens teams, coached the women to the London silver, then regained the mens job in 2013. The Leones found almost immediate success, including a first World Cup medal.But in Rio, the team had a modest pool round, needing to beat unheralded Ireland 3-2 in the last minutes to confirm a spot in the quarterfinals, where it beat Spain 2-1 on a late penalty stroke.In the semifinals, however, they routed defending two-time champion Germany 5-2. But two key players broke bones, striker Matias Paredes (right foot) and playmaker Matias Rey (left hand), 400-plus caps of experience sidelined for the final.Argentina got its goals early then dug in for defense.Belgium scored just three minutes in; Arthur van Dorens pass up the middle was expertly deflected in by Tanguy Cosyns. Argentine fans were silent only briefly.At its first penalty corner, Gonzalo Peillat, who scored a hat trick against Germany, faked and fed Ibarra, whose shot ricocheted in off two Belgians. Ignacio Ortiz blasted in his first goal of the competition, and by halftime it was 3-1 as Peillat had another short corner score, going low left for his tournament-leading 11th goal.Argentina didnt earn another corner. After Ortizs goal, right on the end of the first quarter, it didnt have another shot on goal for almost three quarters until the waning seconds.The Leones stacked their defense, and dared Belgium to score.The Belgians got only one, seconds from the end of the third quarter, through defender Gauthier Boccard. That brought the tension back, but Belgium was frustrated by Argentine goalie Juan Vivaldi, the deep defense, and mistakes on its own short corners.Belgium pulled its goalie with three minutes left, and it backfired. Argentinas Agustin Mazzilli intercepted a cross-field pass in enemy territory, left behind two defenders and walked the goal in with 16 seconds left, and sat on the backboard enjoying the view of teammates embracing, the Argentine fans going wild, and the Belgians collapsing to the turf.This gold medal is important, its going to help mens hockey a lot in Argentina, Mazzilli said. The girls have been really, really good for a long time. We need to improve the mens level so we will have more players at home.Belgiums silver was its first medal since it won bronze in its debut on home turf at the 1920 Antwerp Games.Germany came away with the bronze after beating the Netherlands 4-3 in a shootout. Goalkeeper Nicolas Jacobi starred, forcing Billy Bakker to shoot too late and stripping Sander de Wijn to secure Germanys 10th mens medal, second only to Indias 11.Two-time gold medalist and captain Moritz Furste, grateful to Jacobi for not having to go in the shootout, retired.The womens final is on Friday, matching defending two-time champion the Netherlands and Britain.Phillies Jerseys 2019 . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. Wholesale Phillies Jerseys .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. https://www.cheapphilliesjerseys.us/ . In the response filed Wednesday to the complaint by 30-year-old Alexander Bradley, attorneys say the former University of Florida player is invoking his Fifth Amendment right that protects people from incriminating themselves. Philadelphia Phillies Pro Shop . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. Custom Philadelphia Phillies Jerseys . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said.Nico Rosberg insists he is not feeling the pressure from Lewis Hamiltons current resurgence and is instead focusing on maintaining his championship lead.?Rosbergs championship lead has been whittled down from 43 points to just one, with Hamilton winning four of the last five races. He arrives in Budapest looking to reverse Hamiltons momentum and says he is undaunted by his Mercedes teammates current form.When asked in Hungary if it was fair to say he was feeling the pressure this weekend, Rosberg replied: No it is not because for me up until now I have had the best season of all the drivers. That is the fact for me which I am focussing on but as Ive said before in general I dont look at the big picture because the best approach for me to win races is just to focus on the weekend at hand which is Hungary.We will try to get the best out of it and go for the win. It doesnt feel any different to previous weekends.That period of five races included a win in Baku, but saw Rosberg struggle in Monaco and Canada before colliding with his teammate on tthe final lap in Austria and losing the lead and a place on the podium.dddddddddddd. Rosberg insists he is not dwelling on what has happened in that period of time.I dont. I have reflected on each and every race after it is done and Ive moved on. Im excited to be here and had a good season so far so I will try to win this weekend as well.Mercedes has won all but one race this year, with Ferrari failing to win yet despite high expectations coming into the season. Rosberg thinks it is too early to write off Ferrari or Red Bulls chances of getting into the championship mix in 2016 with 11 races still to come.When it was put to him that 2016 is now a two-horse race between the Silver Arrows cars, he said: It is too early to say that. Ferrari and Red Bull have been a bit up and down but there is still such a long way to go so it wouldnt be right to say that. Of course I can understand why people say that at the moment. ' ' '