The Indian hockey team will be hoping to sign off with a win in Paris.
Credit: DH Photo/KN Shanth Kumar
Paris: Smarting after a heart-breaking semifinal defeat to Germany, the Indian men’s hockey team will be hoping to stage a quick recovery and sign off a largely promising Paris Olympics campaign with a second successive bronze medal in the quadrennial bash when they take on dangerous Spain here on Thursday.
Sports is like two sides of a coin. On one is the exhilarating high it provides during success and on the other is the painful low it slaps you with during failures. The Indian team, who have played some fantastic hockey over the last fortnight at the historic Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, have experienced both in a matter of 48 hours.
On Sunday, they sent the country into delirium when they produced a performance for the ages in defeating Great Britain in a physically exhausting quarterfinal encounter. Down to 10-men following a reckless high-stick challenge from Amit Rohidas, the Indians dished out a superlative defensive display to thwart wave after wave of British attacks before holding their nerve in a thrilling shoot-out to set up semifinal against Germany.
That energy from the quarterfinal was extremely visible in the semis against the world champions where they made a rousing start to the contest in earning as many as eight penalty corners in the opening eight minutes. In fact the Indians dominated a breathless game for the better part, catching the Germans by surprise with their counter-attacking game.
They barely let the Germans get a hold of the ball in the opening two quarters as they kept charging forward at blistering pace. The world champions, almost in shock at the way India came at them in full throttle, were scampering for cover. The Indians produced 17 shots at goal and earned as many as a whopping 12 penalty corners.
What cost India a place in an Olympic final for the first time since 1980 Moscow was the failure to make all those circle penetrations count. They missed all their field goal attempts and could only convert two from the 10 PCs. The Germans, on the other hand, were ruthless up front and that left India on their hunches after the final hooter. Such was the disappointment on the faces of the Indians, they walked away shaking their heads with only PR Sreejesh fronting up for a media byte.
The Indians will need to find that finishing finesse against a dangerous Spain if they wish to secure a second straight Olympic bronze medal. The defence and midfield has been good in Paris, it’s the forward line-up that has fluffed its lines.
The game will also bring curtains on 36-year-old keeper Sreejesh. The Kerala shot-stopper has been the show-stopper for the Indians for a long while with his incredibly consistent performances and he’ll be hoping to bow out with a medal around his neck.
Spain, meanwhile, have seen a resurgence in their fortunes this Games. Having fallen back even in Europe to new power Belgium and old guards Netherlands and Germany, Spain have played some solid hockey here and will be gunning for their fifth Olympic medal and first since winning a silver in Beijing 2008.
They showed their hunger and passion in defeating Germany in a group game and then stunning defending champions Belgium in the quarterfinals. They were outsmarted by Netherlands in the semifinals but they know a win against India will go a long way in restoring the sport back home that has lost a lot of ground to football.
They will lay it all on the pitch on Thursday and so will India.
Match starts at 5.30pm IST.