Argentina thrash India 3-0 in Hockey World League Final opener
World No.5 Argentina thrashed India 3-0, in the opening match of the Hockey World League Final at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, Raipur on Friday. Gonzalo Peillat scored two goals from penalty corner as India started the tournament with a demoralizing defeat.
India were on the back foot from the first minute as Argentina launched a flurry of attacks on the Indian goal. The pressure on the Indian defence resulted in a penalty corner, after Argentina went for a referral on Jasjit Kular handling the ball in the shooting circle. Gonzalo Peillat scored from the resulting corner to put Argentina in the lead. Peillat’s strike took a slight deflection off Raghunath to make its way into the goal as Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh found himself wrong-footed.
Argentina dominated the rest of the quarter by attacking the Indian flanks to keep SV Sunil and Akashdeep quiet. The tactic by Argentina worked as Indians finished the quarter with no shots on the opposition's goal.
The second quarter had a similar story as the first, with Argentina dominating the proceedings at Raipur. They won their second penalty corner of the game after Rupinder Pal Singh committed a foot-foul in the shooting circle. PR Sreejesh made a brilliant save from the resulting penalty corner to deny Peillat of his second goal of the match. However, Indian defence committed another foul in the shooting circle to concede another penalty corner.
As India continued the defensive laps, Argentina scored from the third consecutive penalty corner. Peillat tried a variation in their third penalty corner in two minutes and Joaquin Menini made it 2-0 for Argentina with an easy tap-in. India ended the second quarter in a strong fashion after Argentina went down to 10 men with Manuel Brunet receiving a green card. India almost pulled a goal back in the last minute of the second quarter, only for Ramandeep Singh to slip and lose the ball at the crucial moment.
Sreejesh kept India in the game with some top class saves in the third quarter as Argentina mounted more pressure on the Indians. With Indian defence committing more fouls in the shooting circle, the penalty corner count of Argentina rose to seven by the end of the third quarter.
India finally won a penalty corner in the fourth quarter to raise their hopes of a comeback. But Rupinder Pal Singh’s shot found Argentinian goalkeeper Juan Vivaldi’s stick as the chance went begging. India launched a flurry of attacks on the Argentinian goal with the clock ticking down. But it was Argentina’s game all the way, as they added insult to injury by scoring their third of the match in the last minute of the game from another penalty corner. Peillat was once again the villain for India as his powerful strike got past Sreejesh in the Indian goal.
India will now face World No.3 Germany in their second game of Pool B tomorrow at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Raipur.