Argentina, desperate to give the home crowd something to cheer about, breezed past Canada 3-0, while Germany edged a repeat of the London 2012 Olympic final with The Netherlands by virtue of a 2-1 scoreline.

The two will now meet in the final of the competition tomorrow safe in the knowledge that their all-important Olympic places are secure.

The eagerly-anticipated contest between the Germans and the Dutch was, as expected, a tense affair as neither side committed too many men forward, and unsurprisingly it was goalless at half-time.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the match burst into life when Jeroen Hertzberger put the Dutch ahead after 44 minutes, but Germany hit back almost instantaneously and they were level barely 60 seconds later.

Martin Häner picked out Florian Fuchs with a sumptuous pass and he did the rest, squaring proceedings by prodding home.

With just nine minutes to go, Germany found a winner as Oskar Deecke defied the wide angle by firing the ball beyond the Dutch ‘keeper after he was superbly found by a Moritz Fürste assist.

“We were struggling in the first half but scored two goals in the second half and today we sealed it by taking the step to the Olympics,” Fuchs said.

“This is great for our very young team and it is a great success.”

The home nation, meanwhile, faced a Canada side who had squeezed through to the last four after a dramatic shootout win over New Zealand and the match was fiercely-contested almost from the off.

Manuel Brunet and Facundo Calliano both picked up early yellow cards which meant their side were down to nine men, but they managed to hold out and they went in front after 14 minutes thanks to Gonzalo Peillat’s flick from a penalty corner.

That goal seemed to calm the Argentine nerves and they built on that momentum by doubling their lead through Juan Gilardi’s well-taken effort.

Argentina’s place in the final and at the Olympics was then sealed when Ignacio Ortiz popped the ball through the Canadian ‘keeper's legs to send the home crowd into raptures.

“The people come here to support us and so it was nice for them that we scored and won," said Ortiz.

“We are also very happy to be qualified for the World League Final in India because this means we can play the best in the world.”

Elsewhere, New Zealand will go up against Spain in the fifth-place play-off after the Black Sticks beat Japan 4-1, while the Spaniards ousted South Korea in a shootout following a 2-2 draw after regulation time.

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