IND vs GER, bilateral hockey series 2024: Germany defeats India 2-0

India had the chance to capitalise but failed. Seven PCs and a penalty stroke, in addition to several half chances and desperate scrambles inside the circle, were all wasted.

German players celebrate after scoring against India in the Bilateral Hockey Series 2024 at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap/ The Hindu

It was not a happy homecoming for Indian hockey to the national capital with the men’s team losing 2-0 to Germany in the first of two matches of the bilateral series here on Wednesday.

The Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium was hosting an international game after a decade and the expectation of a good competition between two Paris Olympics medalists saw almost 10,000 people turning up on a working afternoon.

But the Indian team’s performance left a lot to be desired.

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The host seemed to begin well but the ominous signs were there from the start. There was a visible lack of energy and intent even in the opening minutes and the Germans, with typical efficiency, made use of a defensive lapse, going ahead in the fourth minute off a counter-attack that saw Henrik Mertgens, one of the three debutants in the side, get his maiden international goal.

Germany could have gone up 2-0 four minutes later but a penalty corner (PC) was overturned after referral and resulted in one for India instead but Varun Kumar could not keep his balance and Sukhjit hit the rebound wide. 14 seconds from half time, Germany earned its first PC and captain Lucas Windfeder made no mistake in slotting it past Suraj Karkera to double the lead.

India had the chance to capitalise but failed. Seven PCs and a penalty stroke, in addition to several half chances and desperate scrambles inside the circle, were all wasted.

Varun, Amit Rohidas and Sanjay were all experimented with during PCs and one hopes this was part of coach Craig Fulton’s plan to develop a battery of drag-flickers instead of being solely dependent on Harmanpreet Singh.

The captain himself had an off day. The PS, coming in after Germany appealed against Dilpreet Singh’s opportunistic tap-in in the 27th minute, saw Harmanpreet’s weak push coming off Joshua Nnaji Onyekwue’s outstretched pads even though the German Junior World Cup winner dived to the wrong side. Onyekwue, in fact, was impressive all through, bringing off several saves to keep the Indian attack, listless as it was, at bay.

The second half was more of the same and even though they scored no more goals, the German defence managed to deflate any Indian attempt with ease.

The result:

Germany 2 (Henrik Mertgens, Lucas Windfeder) bt India 0.