According to a report in NDTV website, a lacklustre India squandered a one goal advantage to go down 1-3 to Belgium in the quarterfinals and crashed out of the men’s hockey competition of the Rio Olympics on Sunday. However, even after having the lead, India could not carry on with the same, and had to lose out to the opponents with a 3-1 final score line.
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India made a strong start to match as they repeatedly asked questions of Belgian defenders and at the same time, denied the Belgians a clear shot at the goal. India lost to a better team as the Red Lions dominated the contest after conceding a goal in the final minutes of the first quarter against the run of play.
As the game opened, both the teams went after each other aggressively and Belgium’s quick and attacking play kept the Indians guarded.
India, on the other hand, looked completely out of sorts as they played catch-up hockey.
Head coach Roelant Oltmans was at pains to explain the reasons for the defeats. We are happy that the team could reach the quarter finals, but the team we have had the potential of going higher.
It only leaves us with questions on how India came close to instilling belief among hockey lovers that the sport is heading in the right direction.
The Netherlands has its eyes on making history in Rio, where a gold medal would make the team the first country to win three consecutive Summer Games. “That’s what has been proven in today’s game”, the Dutchman said. That’s where we have been lacking. The tactic worked, with team captain Moritz Fürste scoring two penalty corner drag-flicks to restore parity before Florian Fuchs netted a brilliant victor with just 1.4 seconds on the clock. The ball touched the left leg of goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch before entering the cage.
New Zealand, which conceded a penalty corner goal to Netherlands captain Maartje Paumen off the post just before halftime, earned payback when captain Kayla Whitelock whacked in a volley with 68 seconds left.
In Pool B, Argentina knew that they needed a result against India in order to keep alive their Olympic dream, and did just that with a top class performance to win 5-0.
The Indian goalkeeper Sreejesh was brilliant and saved a penalty corner to maintain India’s lead in the first half. Belgium’s second was nearly inevitable, as Elliot van Strydock’s reverse stick pass from left of the circle was guided in by a diving Dockier.
Reflecting on his side’s overall performance in the campaign so far, the 28-year-old believes his side have been playing remarkably well at the moment, while adding they had also shown a lot of improvement after the past few matches. “We need to improve that and we need to see these matches as do-or-die matches”, he said. They were awarded a penalty stroke, and Juan Gilardi stepped up to deliver his first goal of the Olympic tournament that sent his team to the semifinal round.
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“In hockey, captaincy isn’t the most important but it’s all about outside of the field, how you are coordinating with the players, how you are bringing them together, getting their potential out”. The script remained unaltered against the Netherlands as they gave away unnecessary penalty corners in the final 10 minutes to again lose by a 1-2 margin.
