Paris: The Indian men’s hockey team gave it their all in a breathless semifinal encounter of the Paris Olympics but Germany’s ruthlessness in seizing their chances proved to be the major difference as the world champions roared to a 3-2 win here on Tuesday.
In a pulsating match where the action kept flowing from end to end until the very end, Marco Miltkau’s 54th-minute deflection saw the Germans set up a final against fellow European heavyweights Netherlands at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium. India, who won the bronze in Tokyo three years ago, will play Spain for a medal of the same hue on Thursday.
India made a lightning start to the contest by repeatedly storming into the German citadel and earning as many as seven penalty corners in the opening seven minutes. They barely allowed the normally organised Germans to get a grasp of the ball, absolutely rocking the world champions with their pace, energy and precision of passing.
The only thing missing for the early pressing was a goal as the Germans repelled all of it through some stout defending. But the Indians got lucky on the sixth attempt as a powerful Harmanpreet strike took a deflection off a defender and sailed into the post. It could have been 2-0 in the very next minute but a Harmanpreet bullet was stopped by the Germans.
Buoyed by the goal, the Indians kept surging forward much to the joy of an electrifying crowd who lapped every bit of the entertainment. It was almost like the teams of the old who dominated European opposition with superb passing and movement. Such was the brilliance of the Indians, the Germans, forget about getting their act together, they struggled to even catch their breath as coach Andre Henning scratched his head.
The Indians came charging off the blocks in the second quarter too but the Germans hit them on the counter in the 17th minute to earn a penalty corner. Their main drag-flicker Gonzalo Peillat made the chance count, rifling it past the defence and a stunned goalkeeper PR Sreejesh.
The Indians, who have displayed remarkable resilience right throughout this Paris Games, didn’t get cowed down and went in search of restoring their lead again. Abhishek was fed a superb ball but the striker shot over from the edge of the circle in the 20th minute before Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, with only keeper Jean-Paul Danneberg to beat, shot wide from point blank range.
One can’t afford such misses against a ruthless German who make their count and India were made to pay in the 27th minute. The Germans counter-attacked and a penalty corner was turned into a penalty stroke which Christopher Ruhr converted with a smart shot to Sreejesh’s right. The Germans celebrated vehemently after making a comeback form nowhere while the Indians stood shocked.
Like they did at the opening hooter, the Indians were off the blocks like a sprinter in the second half. They kept making several raids and earned three penalty corners in a space of three minutes but all of them were thwarted with Danneberg pulling off an incredible save.
India though were not to be denied a fourth time, Sukhjeet Singh deflecting a scorcher from Harmanpreet in the 36th minute that was just unstoppable. The game continued to be played at a fierce tempo but none of them were able to nudge ahead in the third quarter, setting the game for a grandstand finish.
The Germans almost stroked ahead in the very second minute of the final, only to be denied by some sensational Indian defending in penalty corners, Sreejesh and Sanjay being the heroes. The Germans, masters at nicking high-pressure games, did exactly that in the 54th minute when Marco Miltkau deflected a sizzling cross off the left from Piellat.
It was a dagger drilled deep into the hearts of the Indians and despite their breath vanishing fast in the thin air of Paris, they didn’t lose hope. They almost levelled with seconds left on the clock but Shamsher Singh shot with it went their gold medal hopes.