Paris: The Indian men’s hockey team showed good heart and character to down dangerous New Zealand 3-2 in a thriller to get their Paris Olympics campaign off to a positive start at the historic Yves-du-Manoir Stadium here on Saturday.
After veteran Simon Child levelled the scores at 2-2 for plucky New Zealand it looked like deja vu for India who have always found the Black Sticks as a bogey team. Just last year at the World Cup in Bhubaneswar, they let slip a 3-1 lead to eventually lose via shootout in the crossover quarterfinal to the very same opponents.
However, this time on a rainy and chilly evening in the City of Love they exacted sweet revenge as skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored from the spot in the final minute to ensure three points. Such was the hard-fought nature of the win, the Indians heaved a sigh of relief when the final hooter was blown, well aware they just pulled off a great escape in the Pool B game.
India were off to a false start as Sam Lane struck a thunderous drag-flick in the eighth minute to put New Zealand ahead. It was a bolt India didn’t expect but they showed good character and composure to slowly gain a foothold as the game progressed.
With a huge number of fans cheering them which outmatched the noise on the adjacent pitch where hosts France were being handed a hammering by world champions Germany, India started to press hard in search of an equaliser instead of sitting back and trying to attack on the counter which is current coach Craig Fulton’s Plan A.
They controlled the midfield better, strung together better passes and showed lots of spunk on the flanks to keep New Zealand on their toes. The Black Sticks though were game for it and repelled India quite well, ensuring the possession was literally shared between both sides.
With the second quarter past the halfway stage, India needed an equaliser to lift their spirits because a counter-attacking second from New Zealand could really make their lives difficult. The talented Mandeep Singh provided that, netting home in the 24th minute as India broke into halftime with an upbeat morale.
They then came charging out of the blocks in the all-important third quarter where generally games are decided. They figured if they gave it their all and found a couple of goals despite the risk of them giving open spaces for the Black Sticks to exploit, they could lock in the game and breathe a bit easy in the final quarter.
So they just kept charging forward and that caught New Zealand unawares. And following a goal-mouth scramble in the 34th minute that saw the ball ricocheting off multiple sticks, an alert Vivek Sagar Prasad tapped home. But it took a while for India to finally start celebrating as umpires needed time to decide if New Zealand’s Blair Tarrant did clear the ball off the goal-line or let it cross it. They then awarded the goal to India who were charged up at that stage.
India then had their chances to seal the game but New Zealand were rock solid in their defence to thwart all such attempts. Then out of nowhere New Zealand scored in the 53rd minute that left India stunned and the fans absolutely shocked. Knowing a win was imperative considering the tough group they are placed in, India went for broke thereafter and were rewarded for their guts.
They earned a penalty corner with a minute left which then resulted in a penalty stroke. Skipper Harmanpreet stepped up and calmly slotted it home before raising his fists in celebration.