Hockey
Tokyo Olympics: Indian men's hockey team beat Olympic champions Argentina
India was up against a tough Argentinian defence that managed to keep them at bay for most of the game
Can the Indian men create history? (Source: Hockey India)
The first quarter saw relatively less action as neither side managed to get on the scoresheet. India had more circle penetrations with 7 as compared to Argentina's 2. Mandeep and Simranjeet were particularly lively in their constant pressing but it seemed as though the Argentinian defence would always end up saving themselves with last ditch defensive attempts in the circle.
The 2nd half continued the same way for most part with Argentina not gaining an entry into the Indian circle. The midfield and defence combined with Sreejesh's constant ordering was extremely effective to keep out the Argentinian attack. Simranjeet had a brilliant chance to open the scoring when he latched on to a superb through ball by Manpreet Singh but narrowly missed out as the ball went wide. The Argentinian defence was also solid as they managed to thwart India's constant circle penetrations even in the 2nd half. Sreejesh was called into action once and made a fine save with his left-hand pad. By the end of the first half- it was still 0-0.
India continued to create chance after chance in the 3rd quarter but were again being held off by a strong Argentinian defence. Mandeep came close once in front of goal and Argentina were also reduced to 10 men with a yellow card being shown 5 minutes from play. This was capitalized on by India and they won a PC with 4 minutes to play. Argentina had lost their referral and India won another PC consecutively, but Rupinderpal Singh dragged it wide.
Argentina had a brilliant chance to lead when their forward had a one-on-one chance with Sreejesh. He was clear on goal but the Indian keeper did brilliantly to keep him out. Another interesting incident was when India referred a dangerous play game in the Argentinian circle and won a PC. India scored with Varun Kumar dragging it into an Argentinian stick and the ball subsequently deflecting into the top left corner. India won another PC towards the final 2minutes and this was repeated twice over as there were two foot touches by the Argentinian defence. India failed to capitalize on the man down as Argentina had a man sent off but managed to save the Rupinderpal Singh's shot.
Argentina won a penalty corner early in the 4th quarter and converted it with a sublime shot to the top right corner. It was all square and Argentina won another PC. However, India has been exceptional at their video referrals and managed to avoid another PC with a referral going their way. Argentina seemed to be more confident in the final 10 minutes of the game and were attacking heavily. It seemed as though they would take the lead but it was India who had the last laugh in the final 2 mins as a quick sweep into the circle found Dilpreet who forced a save from the keeper. Vivek capitalised on the free ball to tap in in. India won another PC in the last minute and Harmanpreet duly scored with a drag flick into the centre of the goal. Overall a brilliant last quarter performance by India.
India will now face Japan in their final group stage game tomorrow at 3PM IST.
