India concede late goal to draw with Pak
GOLDCOAST: “This is not the team I have been coaching for the last five months,” India coach Sjoerd Marijne retorted after the team was held to a 2-2 draw by Pakistan in its opening preliminary league match here on Saturday.
The coach was right; India did not play like they have the last couple of years against Pakistan, running up a 7-0 run against the arch-rivals.
T hey looked disjointed, did not use the length and breadth of the pitch properly and allowed Pakistan to make a comeback. India should thank their stars and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh that they did not lose.
The old habit of conceding late goals came back to haunt India at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre, conceding the equaliser off a penalty corner in the last seconds. The penalty corner was awarded to Pakistan off a video referral after the ball hit the foot of an Indian player.
It was a match of two halves as India scored once in each of the first two quarters to take a 2-0 lead at half-time. Dilpreet Singh scored a field goal and Harmanpreet converted a penalty corner.
Pakistan came back strongly as the Indians went off the boil and conceded possession to their rivals. India launched some good attacks in the first half and controlled the game, but in the second went defensive and allowed Pakistan to dictate terms.
Pakistn made it 1-2 when Mohd Arslan scored off a beautifullyorchestrated quick counterattack.
The Indians launched couple of decent attacks but lacked intensity and purpose. Errors started to creep in and their game fell apart in the final quarter.
They lost Chinglingsana Singh to a yellow card in the final quarter which allowed Pakistan to launch their final assault and score off a penalty corner.
Coach Marijne admitted his boys played poorly.
“Maybe, it was the pressure of playing Pakistan or because they were playing their first match. We could not play our usual game and allowed them to come back. We will sit with the players and discuss what went wrong. The tournament is not over yet,” he said.
India will have to pull themselves up as any more slipups in this group may jeopardise their chances of reaching the semifinals as group toppers and avoid hosts Australia in the semi-finals.