New Delhi: The Indian men’s hockey team didn’t live up to the expectations on their return to the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium after 11 years. There was a frenzy atmosphere among the 5000 odd spectators turning in the afternoon on a working Tuesday in the national capital.
But the crowd wasn’t given a befitting welcome for the level of cheering and screeching was invested. Playing against a second-string Germany side sans Paris Olympics silver-medal team members, India faltered despite having the services of the core members of the bronze in Paris and Asian Champions Trophy title in Hulunbuir.
A murky start with the Harmanpreet Singh-led defenders opened the room for the dexterous Germans to mark their foot inside the circle. From there it was just a matter of second for Henrik Mergens to send off a tracer bullet-esque shot past Krishan Bahadur Pathak to open the scoresheet for the tourists.
India didn’t hold to the long passes from Harmanpreet Singh and Jarmanpreet Singh while the ones received by Shamsher Singh and Abhishek weren’t seen in the goalpost despite the fine dribbling shown by the forwards. The German defenders were solid with Theo Hinrichs thwarting each effort made by the hosts, leaving debutant goalkeeper Joshua Onyekwue Nnaji a bit relaxed. The relief part for the Men in Whites was to challenge the penalty corner awarded to the Germans in the initial phase.
An attempt from Sumit nearly missed the wide post but Indians kept finding the opportunities to score. The temptations to enter the circle was seen with Mandeep Singh being replaced between but to no avail. The Germans, on the other hand, were ruthless, particularly with their pace and penetration, moving full in circles.
When Dilpreet Singh found the target after India was awarded their sixth penalty corner, it was a moment of joy for the spectators at the Dhyanchand Stadium, but it was cut short after the Germans protested. The umpire subsequently asked for a referral, and as a result, India was awarded a penalty stroke. \
Much to the dismay of the home fans, Harmanpreet’s low-cornered towards the left of the goalpost was saved by Joshua, holding the slim lead for the World champions. To add salt to the injury, Germany was awarded their second penalty corner in the dying minutes of the first half. Germany captain Lukas Windfeder hit the middle of the goalpost to double the lead, inserting immense pressure on the Indians.
Much to the astonishment, one of the presenters on the fielder asked the crowd to not let their energy squander as it will effectively help their team (India) to bounce back with a 3-2 margin in the end. An optimism mindset of that kind is always appreciable but doesn’t work when a quandary side like the Indian men’s hockey can’t fire on all cylinders.
Waning on penalty corners?
Indians have made the penalty corners as their bread and butter. They relied on scoring from PCs with five of the 10 goals scored in the Paris Olympics came in the respective category. On Tuesday, India earned eight penalty corner but not once did the ball hit the target of the opposition’s goalpost.
There were different players for injections and target in two phases. Shamsher took the injection for the first three PCs with the likes of Amit Rohidas, Sukhjeet, and Sumit taking one shot at a time, all of them missing widely or by ranges. India’s designated drag-flicker Harmanpreet also came into the act with successive attempts on the fourth and fifth PCs, but the German defenders had their sticks to avert the low shots.
A defeat in the first game of the PFC India vs Germany Bilateral Hockey Series.
We are confident of a comeback tomorrow💪🏻India 🇮🇳 0-2 🇩🇪 Germany
Henrik Mertgens 4′
Lukas Windfeder 30′(PC)#IndiaKaGame #PFCINDvGER #HockeyIndia #GermanyTourOfIndia
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@CMO_Odisha… pic.twitter.com/ygdsyngTY9— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) October 23, 2024
India hold defence but lack intensity in forward line in second half
Krishan Bahadur Pathak denied Germany a penalty corner with a superb parry in the third quarter and held the fort relentlessly, but Indians lacked the incision and the knack to make rapid moves to the circles. Most of their attacking tactics were anticipated by the young German side comprising of champions from their U-21 squad.
In a desperation to pull one goal, India removed the goalkeeper to field an extra outfield player. The passes were quick and the moment prompted wayward of lapses for German. Harmanpreet struck hard one only for the ball to fly above Joshua’s head by miles. That was the last hope for India to put their name on the scoresheet. The hooter went off and Germans roared to celebrate.
The dejected Indians, despite the shaky and instability with their gameplan, received a huge applause by the crowd with the likes of Mandeep and Harmanpreet getting cheers from the crowd. A couple of fans breached the fencing to click pictures with the captain. Even the security guard showed laxity here because they themselves took their phones out to share a sweet moment with the Indian player.
