Welcome to the highlights of the Hockey World Cup 2023- Day 3, taking place in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.
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INDIA vs ENGLAND - MATCH 10
RESULT: ENG 0-0 IND
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: OLIVER PAYNE
FOURTH QUARTER
- With 19 seconds remaining, England has the first penalty corner of the second half. Nailbiter! BANDURAK HAS HIT THE POST... can you believe it? Or did it come off the stick of a player? Nevertheless, it hasn’t gone in and that’s what matters. England fails to hear the hooter go off again amid the noise. They let it buzz once more as a thrilling contest comes to an end. With the kind of efforts that went up from either ends of the park, a draw seems like the only fair result.
- Manpreet gets struck behind his ear after the ball jags up off his own stick.
- 30 seconds remain on India’s green card as Jarmanpreet waits on the bench. About two minutes remain for the final whistle to go off.
- Waller passes the ball to the near post from the baseline but it is cleared behind by an Indian player. Waller has used the referral to ask for a PC, claiming intentional clearance from Nilam. The original decision stands. Long corner for England.
- Beautiful skill from Wallace as he balances the ball on the stick as he runs inwards.
- Bad news! Hardik is down on the ground, visibly in pain. The referee has a chat with him before inviting the physio onto the field of play. Oh no, he is hobbling out of the park now. Hope it isn’t a major injury.
- Absolutely phenomenal from Sanford, who goes down but manages to pull off two tackles against Jarmanpreet.
- A desperate shot from Wallace rolls away for the long corner.
- Jack Waller asks for a referral but he is reminded he has run the clock down.
- Rohidas has been cautioned with a green card for an illegal body block.
- Jarmanpreet Singh with a flash of the blade but the ball races across the turf. A good leave from Sanford.
- Sukhjeet Singh tries to find Lalit Kumar Upadhyay at the deep end but finds James Albery instead.
- The pressure continues to build as Payne kicks out yet another effort. After a quick few minutes in the first quarter, he has had a busy night in office.
- Another Indian shot has been deflected wide and it was Sorsby who got the final touch.
THIRD QUARTER
- Mandeep starts celebrating a goal but it has been disallowed. India doesn’t have a referral in its kitty and the on-field decision stays. Amid a goalmouth melee, the ball lobbed past the English ‘keeper and into the goal.
- Phil Roper commits an error on the baseline. Looking for a friendly face, he loses track of the ball and Vivek Sagar Prasad intervenes to dab it out.
- Thomas Sorsby picks up a card for blocking a runner’s knee with his stick and will have a two-minute sitdown.
- Ouch! Rushmere, meanwhile, has taken a stick to his face on the follow-through. He is bleeding profusely through a gash on his left cheek.
- Hardik has been impeccable tonight. He runs from one end to the other, shoots and takes another bite of the cherry on the rebound. How many times has England allowed Hardik to penetrate its circle tonight? Wow!
- Condon on the run. He is under pressure from both Rohidas and the ‘keeper. Condon ends up spraying his shot wide.
- Sanford tries the aerial route again but Harmanpreet raises his stick to register a classy interception.
- Wallace cuts infield but Nilam Sanjeep Xess stops him in his tracks at the edge of the circle.
- Akashdeep’s strike from the D is blocked by Waller. India has used the referral but the video official has ruled that the ball has struck Waller above the knee. It is a free hit for England. India loses a referral.
- Revington: “Defence needs to be tighter. Penalty corners need to be sharper.”
- Indian head coach Graham Reid during the break: “Both teams had their opportunities but we got away with many PCs and kept a clean goal.”
SECOND QUARTER
- A slap-shot comes in from Vivek but Payne comes to the rescue once more, sticking out his left foot right on time.
- Hardik spins about in the face of the goal and has another shy at it. Liam Sanford keeps it out. England has suddenly started to look rocky over the past few minutes.
- Oliver Payne makes a spectacular save-and-a-half to deny Hardik. Woah, that was close!
- Hardik sprints in from the right, feeds Manpreet who has deflected this wide of the far post.
- Nilakanta puts his body on the line as Ward’s treated with a long, aerial delivery from the back. Pathak was in real trouble there for a while.
- Hardik injects another PC. Rohidas gets the ball but again India takes too much time to drill in the shot.
- Nilakanta Sharma has snuck in from the bench. Bandura takes him on.
- Mandeep spreads the play out to Hardik on the left. But England commits a few men forward to keep this effort out.
- Stuart Rushmere pulls it back from the baseline. He finds Hardik’s foot, whose stick isn’t low enough. The resulting penalty corner sees Liam Ansell on the left and Bandurak on the right. Ansell swings and misses.
- Wallace with an excellent display of hand-eye coordination as he brings the high ball down with one hand.
- India, at this moment, enjoys 61 percent possession.
- Jack Wallace tries to cut through the tightest of angles but Pathak Krishan Bahadur closes the gap between his legs in time. End-to-end stuff!
- There’s space on the right for India. Can they make it count? Abhishek dashes through but loses possession.
FIRST QUARTER
- Fabulous pickup from Park but he fails to find a teammate in the box. As the hooter goes off, both sides are yet to find the breakthrough.
- Mandeep pulls it back from the baseline to find a foot. India has a penalty corner. Hardik Singh injects, but Amit Rohidas messes up the trap as the ball bobs up right after.
- Nicholas Park and David Condon with a threatening run down the right. Condon’s searching ball beats Ward’s dive.
- Jack Waller with a reverse stick now. The attempt blazes over the bar.
- Ward with a rasping reverse stick. Sreejesh keeps it out but the rebound finds an Indian body. Penalty corner again! Ward, in the black face mask, has been deflected behind. Another PC finds Manpreet’s foot.
- Surender Kumar takes his eyes off the ball. The touch isn’t soft enough and lands on his foot. England has the first setpiece of the game. Nicholas Bandurak takes a bit of time to flick it in and finds Manpreet’s foot. The resulting PC finds Manpreet’s stick and India is on the counter-attack.
- Manpreet threads a fiery pinpoint pass to Abhishek at the edge of the circle but the English defence comes good once again. India is playing with a high press.
- Mandeep tries to weave his way into the circle from the wings, but England throws in a couple of bodies to keep him out.
- India is already inside the English circle, courtesy of amazing 3D skills from Akashdeep Singh.
- Sam Ward fails to hear the whistle go amid the roar of the crowd. But England, in the all-red strip, finally gets the game underway, attacking from left to right.
- The visiting team’s - England’s - national anthem plays first. In World Cups, England leads the head-to-head 4-3 with one match ending in a draw.
- The teams enter the pitch, flanked on either side by pyrotechnic displays.
- A sellout crowd is waiting to greet the Indian side. The official capacity of the venue is 20,000 but it almost feels like there are more here to watch the game.
- “The quality of the defence of both teams is going to decide the outcome,” England coach Paul Revington says.
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SPAIN vs WALES - MATCH 9
RESULT: ESP 5-1 WAL
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: MARC MIRALLES
FOURTH QUARTER
- Spain has its campaign up and running, registering its first win in the World Cup since June 2014, when it defeated Malaysia.
- Furlong’s drive across goal finds no takers as the hooter goes off.
- Menini on the break. Marc Recasens with the shot but the Wales goalie pulls off another impressive save.
- WOW! It is Miralles again, who arguably scores the best goal of this game. A fake and a dink see him squeeze past two defenders before he slap-sweeps past the goalie’s right shoulder.
- James Carson takes a quick free hit and slides it towards the goal. What initially looked a bit off the far post has been accidentally channeled into the net by Cunill. Wales wouldn’t mind.
- The Wales goalkeeper is under pressure again. First, Boria Lacalle and then Bonastre go for successive shots but, thankfully, for Newcombe’s men the scoreboard remains undisturbed.
- Griffiths sends in a searching ball from the right and somehow that has missed everything and everyone.
- Wales tries to force a penalty corner but Cunill emerges hero again, blocking an effort from one of the attackers.
- Caldas has started barking instructions from the sidelines. He is clearly not happy with something.
THIRD QUARTER
- Luke Hawker, Wales captain, has an effort on goal but it isn’t enough to test Rafi.
- Wales has a penalty corner. Xavier Gispert gets a green card. Rhodri Furlong flicks hard but Rafi Adrian pulls off an excellent save. There were a number of red shirts waiting near the goal for a rebound but the Spanish defence takes care of that.
- A brace for Reyne... one second, we have a referral from Wales for a stray foot... The video referee is convinced there is no contact with the foot and Spain has its fourth goal fair and square.
- Spain has 68 percent possession at this point in the game. A left-handed, leaping save from Reynolds-Cotterill as a Spain attacker spins around and goes for goal. They aren’t done yet. The side’s circle penetration has gone up to 23 now.
- Miralles scores off a penalty corner as Spain continues to take the game away from Wales. Slams it in. The goalkeeper gets a touch but he only ends up flicking it past one of his own.
- A brilliant block! Gonzalez has a shy at goal. But the Wales ‘keeper is up to the task.
- Wales moved about in the first half, but it couldn’t make its way into the circle, which is primarily what the players would be looking to do on more occasions in the last 30 minutes.
SECOND QUARTER
- Brilliant save from Reynolds-Cotterill. Jordi Bonastre throws his body on the line, with a one-handed cross into the zone. Joaquin Menini was right in front of goal but the ‘keeper does well to ward off the effort.
- A penalty stroke for a tackle on Draper inside the circle, the fourth of this edition of the tournament. Miralles MISSES! Skies it over the bar. Unbelievable.
- GOAL! An impressive run, this, from Gerard Clapes. He had the guile to work this past the ‘keeper but he smartly nudges to his skipper on the right. Alvaro Iglesias gets the final touch as the ball trickles in.
- The Welsh have upped their numbers in the circle forcing Spain to adopt a defensive approach.
- A brilliant defensive show from Cunill saves Spain. Rupert Shipperley had almost made it for Wales on this occasion.
- The shot is in! Marc Reyne breaks the deadlock. Toby Reynolds-Cotterill has been beaten through the legs. Reyne takes all the time in the world to line himself up for the shot and ultimately fires one into the bottom of the net.
FIRST QUARTER
- Circle penetrations thus far: ESP 12-2 WAL. Spain has enjoyed greater possession as well.
- Jacob Draper dispossesses Enrique Gonzalez at the edge of the Wales circle. Spain needs to send in more players into the circle and place a few of them close to the goalie for tip-ins and rebounds.
- Penalty corner for Spain! Cunill slams it hard and high. The Welsh ‘keeper punches it out.
- Great stick work from Gareth Griffiths to steal the ball from the Spaniards. Another incisive run culminates into a missed opportunity.
- Marc Miralles on the charge! It’s three vs three in the danger zone and the midfielder misses. He should have gone for the pass on the right.
- Free hit for Spain at the edge of the box as Pepe Cunill goes down. The men in white in the ascendancy early on.
- Wales gets the game underway, attacking the goal on the left.
- Time for the national anthems. Spain’s up first.
- Spain boss Max Caldas: “We were not thorough and fast enough against India. It was the first game. Today it should be a different challenge.”
- “We need to play positively for four quarters and that gives us a very good chance to win the game,” Wales coach Daniel Newcombe tells the organisers.
- We are minutes away from some exciting Pool D action as Spain takes on Wales. The sun, meanwhile, has started to set in the backdrop of the beautiful Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela.
PREVIEW
After a disappointing performance in the opening game defeat, Spain will aim to bounce back in a must-win Pool D World Cup clash against Wales here at the Birsa Munda International Stadium on Sunday.
Spain was outpassed and outrun in the loss to host India on Friday as the midfield failed to exert its desired influence on the game. Debutant Wales is coming on the back of a 5-0 thrashing to England, and damage limitation will be foremost on its mind.
The Spanish coach Maximiliano Caldas wasn’t happy with the performance and hoped for an improved showing. With better goal difference for both England and India, the two-time finalist will also want a victory with a big margin to improve its chances of progression.
“We didn’t play the game we wanted to play. We lost the ball too much, and we ran with the ball too much. We are a team that likes to dominate the ball and have the ball much more time with our sticks. We didn’t do that very well, and we will want to improve,” said Caldas.
Spain will want experienced midfielder Alvaro Iglesias to take control of the midfield and steer the young side.
Wales ‘keeper Toby Reynolds-Cotterill, who limited England’s scoring with his saves, will once again be called upon to keep Spain at bay. It looked threatening from penalty corners, and Gareth Furlong can be the man to help it get the first World Cup goal it craves for.
WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE TWO TEAMS FACED EACH OTHER LAST TIME?
Spain won the last encounter against Wales 6-1 in the 2021 Men’s EuroHockey Championships.
WATCH | Hockey World Cup 2023: Spain eyes positive result in must-win game against Wales - By Aashin Prasad
Max Caldas on coaching Spain, difference between handling youngsters and seasoned players and more
| Video Credit:
Aashin Prasad
Here’s our reporter from the ground, giving us the view near the venue.
HERE ARE THE MATCHES FOR THE DAY!
Where to watch the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup matches?
The 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup matches will be telecast live on Star Sports First, Star Sports Select 2 HD, Star Sports Select 2 SD. The same will be streamed live on Disney+ Hotstar.
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