PARIS: “We have played two top teams in the group stage, Belgium and Australia. This will help us in the knockouts,” India’s South African coach Craig Fulton had said. It surely did. The fighting win over Great Britain on Sunday showed the desire, the passion of this Indian hockey team. It showed that this bunch is not only skillful and fit, but these men are also mentally tough as nails.
India will take on Germany in the semifinals at the Yves du-Manoir Stadium on Tuesday.It looked highly unlikely when Amit Rohidas was shown the red with 43 minutes still to play against Great Britain. The Indians scored a famous win, rarely seen in international hockey. It is tough to play with 10 men for almost three quarters, in a game which is played at breakneck speed on a wet artificial turf and is very hard on the knees.
But all that was far from their minds. They wanted it badly and got it, fighting like brave warriors. They are now in the hunt for a medal. The bad news for the Indians is that Rohidas has been banned for a game and will miss the semifinal. An accomplished central defender, he is also the key rusher when defending penalty corners. It is a huge setback.The striking thing about this Indian team is that it looks settled, in all areas. They know what they are doing, which was probably not so five-six years ago. Most of them were part of history which was made at the Tokyo Games when the team won bronze, a medal after 41 years. They know how to escape from jail, how to soak in the pressure.
Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh is now 36 years old, a veteran of many battles. He has kept the team afloat with some brilliant saves throughout the competition. He had 10 on Sunday and will play a key role against the Germans who have lost just one match here – against Spain. And so will skipper Harmanpreet Singh who is having a dream outing, leading the defence and scoring from penalty corners. He already has seven in his bag. Expect it to swell on Tuesday.
“We’ve been talking about defence for 14 months. We dug deep and Sri (Sreejesh) was immense. When you talk about defence, it’s also about showing your love for your team-mate by covering him and helping him. Sreejesh did that for us and we did that for him,” Fulton had said last night.
Defence, indeed, has been key to this campaign. Tuesday is a huge test for the Indian defenders as the Germans have scored 19 goals so far, 16 coming in the group stage.
INDIA VS GERMANY
India will take on Germany in the semifinals at the Yves du-Manoir Stadium on Tuesday.It looked highly unlikely when Amit Rohidas was shown the red with 43 minutes still to play against Great Britain. The Indians scored a famous win, rarely seen in international hockey. It is tough to play with 10 men for almost three quarters, in a game which is played at breakneck speed on a wet artificial turf and is very hard on the knees.
But all that was far from their minds. They wanted it badly and got it, fighting like brave warriors. They are now in the hunt for a medal. The bad news for the Indians is that Rohidas has been banned for a game and will miss the semifinal. An accomplished central defender, he is also the key rusher when defending penalty corners. It is a huge setback.The striking thing about this Indian team is that it looks settled, in all areas. They know what they are doing, which was probably not so five-six years ago. Most of them were part of history which was made at the Tokyo Games when the team won bronze, a medal after 41 years. They know how to escape from jail, how to soak in the pressure.
Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh is now 36 years old, a veteran of many battles. He has kept the team afloat with some brilliant saves throughout the competition. He had 10 on Sunday and will play a key role against the Germans who have lost just one match here – against Spain. And so will skipper Harmanpreet Singh who is having a dream outing, leading the defence and scoring from penalty corners. He already has seven in his bag. Expect it to swell on Tuesday.
“We’ve been talking about defence for 14 months. We dug deep and Sri (Sreejesh) was immense. When you talk about defence, it’s also about showing your love for your team-mate by covering him and helping him. Sreejesh did that for us and we did that for him,” Fulton had said last night.
Defence, indeed, has been key to this campaign. Tuesday is a huge test for the Indian defenders as the Germans have scored 19 goals so far, 16 coming in the group stage.
INDIA VS GERMANY
- At Tokyo 2020: India beat Germany 5-4 to win the bronze
- Since then > Matches: 6 | India won: 5 | Germany won: 1
- Last meeting: Germany beat India 3-2 in FIH Pro League encounter in June
* 11 Goals scored by India in Paris Olympics so far — three field goals, five through penalty corners and three through penalty strokes. They have conceded 8 goals so far. Germany, on the other hand, have scored 19 goals, while conceding eight. Fourteen of the goals scored by Germany were field goals.
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