MOENCHENGLADBACH, Germany _ The Netherlands and European champion Spain pulled off desperate wins while Pakistan was surprised by previously winless Argentina 1-0 in the field hockey World Cup on Monday.

Argentina's Mario Nicolas Almada (L) fights for the ball with Pakistan's Ihsan Ullah (C) and goalkeeper Salman Akbar (R) during their Men's Field Hockey World Cup match at the Warsteiner Hockey Park stadium in Moenchengladbach September 11, 2006. [Reuters]

Taeke Taekema's two second-half goals helped the Dutch overcome England 4-3, Spain ended New Zealand's unbeaten run 3-1, and South Korea's Jang Jong-hyun scored with two minutes left to hand India a third one-goal loss, 2-1.

In the race for semifinal berths, Pool B was led by South Korea on 10 points, followed by the Netherlands and Germany on 7 each. If Germany passes winless South Africa on Tuesday, its match with the Koreans on Wednesday will advance the winner. A draw would be enough for Korea. The Netherlands also have to handle India on Tuesday.

In Pool A, the competition was tighter, with Spain, New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan separated by three points. Australia had played one less match, and the Olympic champion's chances rested on beating New Zealand on Tuesday.

The Netherlands, which won the Champions Trophy unbeaten in July, conceded a 2-0 start to England in the first 13 minutes. But two goals in two minutes by Teun de Nooijer and Ronald Brouwer pulled the Netherlands even by the 20th minute.

Soon after halftime, James Tindall reignited a thrilling match with his second goal for England to retake the lead.

Then Taekema, who was yellow-carded in the first half, leveled through a penalty corner. After England's Martin Jones was yellow-carded for a tackle from behind, Taekema flicked in his second score off a penalty corner and the Dutch hold on to their first lead in the match.

Spain got on top of New Zealand early thanks to goals by David Alegre and Santiago Freixa's penalty corner in the first half. Eduard Tubau made it 3-0 with a slap shot 30 seconds into the second half, and New Zealand finally replied when Hayden Shaw finished a 40th-minute penalty corner with a shot under the roof of the net.

The Black Sticks know they could qualify for the last four and eliminate archrival Australia on Tuesday.

"Australia has been our big nemesis, but we have narrowed the gap a bit," New Zealand coach Kevin Towns said. "I think we're playing well enough to have a crack at it tomorrow."

Pakistan put itself in a hole in terms of semifinals contention when it allowed a penalty stroke to Argentina's Matias Damian Vila in the 41st minute, the only goal of their match.

Argentina, rebounding from a 4-0 thrashing from Australia, kept its players back on defense and survived two attempts by Sohail Abbas which hit the crossbar to record its first win of the tournament.

India squandered Shivendra Singh's opening goal when it lost a player to a yellow card and South Korea pounced with two goals in the last 10 minutes. Jang leveled in the 63rd on a penalty corner, then scored the winner less than 80 seconds from time.

India was beaten or drawn for the third time on late goals in the tournament.

"I will not blame my boys _ they played excellent hockey sometimes," India coach Vasudevan Baskaran said.