After the Indian men’s hockey team lost against Germany 0-2, its captain Harmanpreet Singh spoke about their next match. PFC India and Germany organized the first match of the Bilateral Hockey Series 2024 at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi.
Harmanpreet gave kudos to the team regardless of the loss. “It was a good game, but we couldn’t score. Generally, we had good possession and defense. Howsoever we can definitely improve,” he said. This he said was going to be the next game’s plan – “score as much as possible and win.”
The disappointment was shared by the team’s coach, Craig Fulton. He said, “Being 2-0 down made it tough. We focused on scoring the next goal. In the second quarter, we performed well but failed to capitalize on key chances. Unfortunately, mistakes allowed Germany to punish us.”
Germany kicked the game off with an early opening goal. Henrik Mertgens managed to capitalize on a loose ball inside India’s shooting circle when he netted one in the 4th minute. India struggled to get into a rhythm, which allowed Germany to control and dominate possession. The latter half of the first quarter saw India trying to hurry the pace of the ball. India managed to win a penalty corner, but Varun Kumar blew the chance to score an equalizer. Thus, Germany went into the break with an important 1-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw India up the ante, forcing Germany on the back foot. Three penalty corners were won by India in this period but could not be converted. With three minutes left in the half, India won a penalty stroke, which German goalkeeper Joshua Onyekwue Nnaji kept out from Harmanpreet. In the counterattack, Germany got back its reward, winning back a penalty corner. This time Lukas Windfeder scored to double the lead just before halftime.
The second half saw India trying to up the ante, but Germany was equal to the task. It was in the third quarter of the game that a quick penalty corner earned for India saw Nnaji save the flick from Harmanpreet five minutes into the third quarter. A minute later, Germany returned with a penalty corner of their own, which saw goalkeeper Krishan Pathak block the resultant shot.
In the last quarter of the game, Germany was looking to seal the advantage further but was cleared by Amit Rohidas. The rest of the match saw India in possession in their quest for the first goal without clear-cut opportunities. The result later read 2-0 in favor of Germany.
This means the Indian team is going to look forward to the second match for a chance of coming back and winning.
-ANI