Spirited Indians holds Olympic Champions to 1-1 draw
A spirited performance from the Indian hockey team held World No. 3 Germany to a 1-1 draw in the Pool B match of Hockey World League Final at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Hockey Stadium in Raipur on Saturday. Niklas Wellen put the Germans ahead in the sixth minute before Akashdeep Singh equalised for the Indians in the last quarter.
After a 3-0 thrashing by Argentina in the last match, India went into the match against Olympic champions Germany with the hope of making a comeback into the tournament. Germany led the head-to-head between the teams with seven wins in last ten matches, while India have won only thrice. With the hosts facing a stern test against the German side, Indian coach Roelant Oltmans brought more solidity to his side by changing the formation from 5-3-2 to 4-3-3. SV Sunil, Raghunath and Dharmvir Singh started on the bench as Manpreet, Amir and Birendra Lakhra came into the starting lineup.
Germany, who were held to a 0-0 draw in their opening game by Netherlands, also started with a 4-3-3 formation, with Ruhr, Wellen and Fuchs leading the line. Goalkeeper Nikolas Jakobi was on the bench and his spot was taken by Andreas Spack.
India started the game on a positive note with a flurry of attacks in the first five minutes. India's pressure almost paid off as a brilliant reverse pass by Manpreet found Akashdeep withing the shooting circle. However, a world-class save by goalie Andreas Spack saved the Germans from going behind.
Germany went ahead in the sixth minute with an amazing run by Oruz Timur down the right wingwhich opened up the Indian defence. Timur picked out Niklas Wellen in front of the goal for an easy tap-in. India were saved from further embarrassment in first quarter by saves from PR Sreejesh.
India pushed the Germans really hard in the second quarter in search of an equaliser. With one goal in the bank, Germany defended with resilience to protect the lead.
Akashdeep came close to scoring the equaliser with a pass from Sardar finding the forward in the shooting circle. But Spack once again rescued the Germans with a reverse shot from the Indian headed for the goal.
Germans went down to ten men in the 26 minute with Ruhr receiving a green card for foul. However, the Germans defended admirably to deny the Indians of an equaliser.
India started the second half by winning a penalty corner in the first minute. Rupinder Pal Singh’s drag-flick came back of the post and reached Ramandeep Singh. With the goal in his sighthe slipped at the crucial moment and the chance went begging. With India wasting the video referral in the second quarter, the hosts were left with no choice but to accept the Umpire’s decision on the ball crossing the line, although the replay showed otherwise.
Germany earned their first penalty corner in the third quarter and a brilliant save from Sreejesh kept India from going down again. Both teams were down to 10 men in the last minutes of third quarter with Moritz and Raghunath receiving a yellow and a green card respectively. India ended the quarter as the better side with yet another save from Spack keeping the Indians out.
India started the fourth quarter in amazing fashion, scoring the equalizing goal in the second minute of the quarter. A pass from Manpreet found Akasheep in the shooting circle and a reverse flick from the forward found its way into the goal.
With scores level at 1-1, India pushed ahead in search of a winner. But their hopes took a blow when they went down to 10 men with Ramandeep Singh receiving a five-minute suspension. Ending the match properly has always been India’s Achilles' heel and the crowd at Raipur were praying for the Indian defence and they did held their nerves to finish the match at 1-1.
India will now take on World No.2 Netherlands in the last match of the group stage on November 30 at Raipur. India currently occupy the last position in Pool B with one point from two games.