The under-21 team fails to convert a dozen penalty corners, while the forwards have a poor day, as India exits the tournament in the last four for the second time in a row.
It’s not often that a half-time interview in hockey is as informative and outspoken as the one given by Germany’s Rein van Eijk during the semifinal versus India on Thursday at the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
His team took the lead at the end of the half, with the hooter sounding just as India committed a Penalty Corner. Eijk, on the other hand, had no qualms about acknowledging his team was fortunate.
“Definitely a very important goal, but we are not deserving of our current lead; India is tearing us apart, and we have no control over the game.” We must step up or else they will score three, four, or five goals if we continue to play this manner; we must clear up a few things. “India played a fantastic half, and we are very fortunate right now,” the coach added.
Despite past setbacks against Germany, the Indian camp was upbeat ahead of the game. Coach CR Kumar identified solid plan execution as the key to defeating the European powerhouses. His half-time assessment was very pointed: “The plans we decided on didn’t get executed properly.”
India started the game in fifth gear and had the better attacking results, but Germany seized the lead on a counterattack through Ben Hasbach. Sudeep Chirmako then equalized for India with a beautiful finish off a reverse stroke in just over a minute.
India created various opportunities in the second quarter as well. In the first half, they won 10 penalty corners to Germany’s one. The lone PC was called for an aerial violation far from goal, which was unnecessary since the hooter was about to sound and Germany had little chance of scoring from there. After a scuffle, Hasbach converted it as well.
