A profligate India will have to raise their game by leaps and bounds if they want to overcome a mighty Spain in the bronze medal play-off match of the junior men’s hockey World Cup here on Saturday.
India wasted as many as 12 penalty corners to lose 1-4 against a clinical Germany in the semifinal on Thursday.
The Indians would be morally down but come Saturday, they can’t afford to be wasteful against Spain, who defeated them 4-1 in the pool stages.
On the other hand, Spain too would be hurting from a 1-3 loss against France in the semifinal and would be looking to finish their campaign with at least a bronze medal.
The Indians would also be eyeing their fourth podium finish in the history of the tournament, having won gold twice (in 2001 Hobart and 2016 Lucknow), and a silver way back in 1997 in Milton Keynes, England.
But for that, the Uttam Singh-led side needs to do some soul-searching and produce its ‘A’ game.
The tournament turned out to be a mixed bag for India as they showed great determination to stun world no.4 Netherlands 4-3 in the quarterfinal.
But they failed to carry on the momentum against six-time champions Germany, failing to utilise numerous scoring chances that came their way.
India captain Uttam conceded that they wasted chances galore but said they are still in with a chance of finishing on the podium and will prepare towards that goal.
“We got a lot of opportunities inside the circle (against Germany) but we missed a lot. We couldn’t convert our chances. We tried to score from the set pieces but we couldn’t convert,” he said.
“We need to be more aware and not lose ball possession. We are not out of the tournament yet, bronze medal match is still there. Whatever has happened we can’t change. Our entire focus will be on the next game.” India’s chief coach CR Kumar would be highly disappointed with the performance of his dragflickers and would be hoping that the likes of vice-captain Araijeet Singh Hundal, Shardanand Tiwari and Sudeep Chirmako deliver the goods on Saturday.
“We really would’ve loved to have been playing the final but now we just have to focus on what lies ahead of us. Finishing third in a World Cup also commands a lot of respect so we’ll play the best hockey we can,” Kumar said.
Uttam and Boby Singh Dhami too would look to lift their game up front.
Spain, on the other hand, has never reached the final of the tournament. Their best result was a bronze medal in the 2005 edition in Rotterdam, beating India 6-5 on penalties after the match was tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation time.
Going by head-to-head record in the tournament, Spain holds an edge over India.
India and Spain have played eight times against each other in men’s junior World Cup history with Spain winning five of those battles, the most recent result also going in the European nation’s favour.
Meanwhile, Germany, who finished runner-up in the last edition in 2021 in Bhubaneswar, will play reigning bronze medallist France in the summit clash.
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