Two brilliant penalty corner conversions by Taeke Taekema on either side of his yellow card suspension lifted the Netherlands to a 4-3 win against England [ Images ] and kept their hopes alive of a semi-final berth in the men's hockey World Cup in Monchengladbach on Monday.

The victory took the Dutch to seven points, the same as champions Germany [ Images ], after four matches while England remain on three.

Argentina grimly hung to a 45th-minute penalty stroke goal by Matias Vila for a 1-0 win against Pakistan in a pool A match. Pakistan thus suffered a major setback to their aspirations of a semi-final berth as they remained on five points after four matches, while Argentina moved to four with their first win in as many outings.

Pakistan were distinctly unlucky with a couple of penalty corners they forced with drag-flick specialist Sohail Abbas hitting the cross-piece and goalkeeper Juan Manuel Vivaldi coming up with some smart saves.

They will next play Australia [ Images ] in the concluding match of the league phase on Wednesday while Argentina face Japan [ Images ].

Trailing 0-2 at one stage, the Dutch retaliated in style with veteran Teun de Nooijer playing a lead role in their great fightback.

England went 2-0 ahead with James Tindall (10th) and Richard Mantell (13th) breaching the Dutch defence. However, the Dutch came back when Teun de Nooijer deflected a long hit in the 18th and Ronald Brouwer scoring off a rebound from a goalmouth scramble.

On resumption, Tindall made it 3-2 for England when he scored off a Matt Daly pass, but the Dutch were far from finished as Taekema converted a penalty corner in the 45th and almost immediately sent out on a yellow card. He returned in time to put home the sixth Dutch penalty corner in the 63rd minute for a rousing victory.