India’s German coach, Craig Fulton quoted, “Belgium and Australia are two of the top teams in the group stages and this will help us in the knockout stages.” It certainly did. The Indian hockey team demonstrated their fighting spirit as they won a tough match against Great Britain on Sunday. These men had more than just the skills and fitness levels to stay in contention; they were mentally strong.
Germany will be India’s semifinal opponent on Tuesday at Yves du Manoir Stadium. However this was unlikely thanks to Amit Rohidas’ red card with 43 minutes remaining against Great Britain. For instance, it is not easy to beat an international powerhouse like Great Britain in field hockey. It is extremely difficult to play for 10 minutes when your body is tired out due to playing at breakneck speed on a wet artificial turf which is really hard on the knees.
But that wasn’t uppermost in their minds.They needed and therefore fought like brave warriors. They are now chasing a medal. The bad news for Indians though is that Rohidas has been banned for one game meaning he will miss Tuesday’s semi-final against Germany. He was also a key rusher whenever defending penalty corners because he was an excellent central defender. The Indian team has suffered a major setback. Despite everything, one can tell that this group of Indians have settled down well. The latter were familiar with what they were doing unlike some five-six years ago. Most of them took part in history-making during Tokyo Games where the team won bronze after 41 years. These ones know how to walk free from jails as well as how to absorb pressure.
Now PR Sreejesh who guards their goal post is 36 years old and has played so many games before now. He kept our team alive through his exceptional performance all along the competition. This time he made ten saves while we hope Harmanpreet Singh who never fails us will be able to score again from penalty corners. Seven is already in his kitty. It will increase on Tuesday.
“We have been talking about defence for 14 months now. We really fought hard and it was a great job by Sri at the back. When you talk about defence, it is also about covering your team-mate and helping him out and that was what Sreejesh did for us”,recalled Fulton last night.
Defence has really been critical to this campaign as well. India’s defenders are up against it on Tuesday, as Germany have scored 19 goals so far with 16 of them coming in the group stage.
INDIA VS GERMANY
- At Tokyo 2020: India beat Germany 5-4 to win the bronze
- Since then > Matches: 6 | India won: 5 | Germany won: 1
- Last meeting: Germany beat India 3-2 in FIH Pro League encounter in June
*11 India had scored three field goals, five via penalty corners and another three from penalty strokes in the Paris Olympics so far while conceding eight. Germany has eight goals against her having put through 19. All these were field goals except for 14 of them which were field-goals by Germany.
