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Late goal leaves India heartbroken
RIO DE JANEIRO: The old frailty of leaking goals in the dying moments came to the fore again as India conceded a goal to Germany with less than four seconds left
RIO DE JANEIRO: The old frailty of leaking goals in the dying moments came to the fore again as India conceded a goal to Germany with less than four seconds left to go down 1-2 in their second Pool B men’s hockey match on Monday.
The defending champions scored an opportunistic goal moments from the final hooter after India had tasted success on Sunday, starting their campaign against Ireland on a winning note, though the eight-time Olympic champions were far from convincing.
SOME POSITIVES
No doubt, the Roelant Oltmans coached boys showed many positives and played enthralling and near-perfect hockey, but in the end what mattered was the result and Germany were celebrating with just 3.1 second left on the timer.
India attacked relentlessly, catching the German defence by surprise at times, but the Olympic champions in the last two editions — 2012 London and 2008 Beijing — attacked with a vengeance in the last two minutes to put India under tremendous pressure. It was Christopher Ruhr who scored the winner for Germany with a deflection from close to dash the PR Sreejesh-led side’s hopes.
Earlier, Germany took the lead through with Niklas Wellen scoring a field goal in the 18th minute against the run of play, but five minutes later Rupinder Pal Singh negated the lead, converting his third penalty corner of the Games.
The win helped Germany keep their successful run intact against India since 1996. India last overcame Germany 3-0 at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996.
However, despite the loss, India can take heart from the fact that they dished out a far better performance against Germany on Monday than they have in the recent past --- a 3-3 draw against a depleted Germany in the Champions Trophy in London and a 0-4 thrashing in Valencia prior to the Olympic Games.
Initially, it was thought that India would be no match to the extremely-fit Germans, who are in search of a third successive Olympic title, but even they were surprised by India’s all-out attacking game.