A relentless Germany dashed the spirited Indian side’s dream of a berth in the final
by recording a come-from-behind 3-2 win in the semifinals of the men’s hockey competition in the Paris Olympics
In a match swinging like a pendulum, world champion Germany showed its all-round brilliance
scoring a goal apiece through a penalty corner, a stroke and a field move.
India gave a matching fight, but paid the penalty of converting only two of its 11 short corners
Despite the loss, India, the bronze medallist of the Tokyo Olympics, will have another shot at the medal as it will play Spain in the third place match
In the first 30 minutes, the momentum shifted from India to Germany
The Indians made some excellent forays to earn as many as seven penalty corners in the opening quarter and captain Harmanpreet Singh scored off the sixth one
The Indians made some excellent forays to earn as many as seven penalty corners in the opening quarter and captain Harmanpreet Singh scored off the sixth one
With Paul-Phillip Kaufmann distributing the ball beautifully, Germany built pressure
Indians held their nerve and tried their best to save their post even as the match with high stakes became a bit physical
The omnipresent Hardik Singh played a critical role as he worked hard to feed the forwards and fall back seamlessly to bolster the defence
Germany made a superb comeback through Peillat Gonzalez’s crisp shot off the team’s first short-corner early in the second quarter
Abhishek and Lalit Upadhyay missed clear chances and opportunities to put Germany on the back foot again
Germany’s second penalty corner resulted in a stroke and Christopher Ruhr made no mistake
Harmanpreet’s shot was deflected home by Sukhjeet Singh as India levelled the scores
India’s marvellous combined defence denied the Germans despite their multiple attempts from their third short corner in the final period
In the last 10 minutes, Germany got an upper hand, picking up two penalty corners and scoring off a surprise attack
Peillat’s grounded shot from the left corner of the circle was deflected in by Marco Miltkau to make it 3-2 with six minutes left
Sreejesh was taken off to boost India’s attack and Germany utilised the opportunity to earn another short corner. It did not result in any further damage though
India tried its best and Shamsher Singh’s last-second attempt went over the bar to the disappointment of the Indian camp