Mink Van der Weerden continued his Olympic success by scoring the goal that put the Dutch ahead in the fourth quarter.
Advertisement
However, spoiling India’s party could be the burning possibility of facing World No. 1 Australia in the quarter-final rounds. A 4-4 draw between Argentina and Germany meant that India no team can replace them in the top four standings of the points table in Pool B. India’s finally position in the table is yet to be decided as they play Canada in their last group game.
SV Sunil and SK Uthappa, who was playing his 100th worldwide match, then combined well from the right flank to get into the Netherlands circle but the Dutch defence were able to thwart the danger. It took till the 20th minute of the game though for the first real opportunity to present itself. Both these teams have been in good form.
For India, a point would have sealed qualification, and the goal galvanised them into action.
It took India just six minutes to draw level through Raghunath, who converted the second of two back-to-back penalty corners.
With little more than three minutes left for the third quarter to end, SV Sunil and Raghunath had to sit out for five minutes and ten minutes, respectively, after getting yellow cards from separate incidents.
The Dutch had taken full advantage of being a man up in the final quarter and storm through with a series of penalty corners. Even though star drag-flicker van der Weerden’s flick was blocked by Sreejesh on his left but Hofman pounced on the opportunity to drive the ball home in the 32nd minute.
Raghunath’s re-entry in the field would be with the yellow jersey as India played out the final three minutes without a goalkeeper, pressing high trying to force an equaliser and a guaranteed spot in the next round. A Dutch body met each flick and soon both teams were trading video referrals, which turned out to be successful for the Indian team while not for the Dutch.
Advertisement
The Dutch, on the other hand, preferred to sit back and get a hold of India’s game and relied mostly on counters but, just like their opponents, failed to have a shot at the goal. From being under pressure in the final moments of matches, they had been the aggressors, and the lack of a goal notwithstanding, this was a performance to inspire them for the future. India had gotten as many as five consecutive penalty corners – four of them coming after the final whistle – but were denied by some resolute Dutch defending and faced their second defeat in four matches at the Rio Olympics. The match will be broadcasted live on Star Sports, Star Sports HD and Doordarshan.
