Colts start race with confident trot

India start junior World Cup campaign on the right note with a 4-0 win over lightweight Canada; Varun Kumar shines brightest

AS THE ball cut through the fog and beat the Canadian goalkeeper, 21-year-old Varun Kumar begun his sprint towards the touchline and broke into that famous Cristiano Ronaldo’s jump-twist-flex goal celebration. His team mates were pleasantly surprised, those on the bench looked at each other in disbelief. No one expected the shy boy from Mithapur in Punjab to ape football’s ultimate extrovert. But then this talented team is known express itself in a manner that makes heads turn.

In their opening game of the Junior World Cup, India scored a couple of sharp field goals in their 4-0 win over Canada. Goals from a penalty corner and a penalty stroke were sandwiched in between. Even the defence stood out. India didn’t concede a single penalty corner or even allow Canada a shot on target. India, on Thursday, and ticked all the boxes.

After the 70 minutes of thrilling action, it was clear that senior team chief coach Roelant Oltmans and strategy coach Roger van Gent had given perfect finishing touches to junior coach Harendra Singh’s three-year training programme. The impact that the old hands Oltmans and van Gent had on this very organised young team was hard to miss. In many ways, the juniors mirrored their seniors— playing a high-press game when caught out of possession, making dangerous circle penetrations from both wings, coming up with quick counters and maintaining a sturdy defensive structure.

However, unlike the seniors — who have often been accused of being slow starters to a tournament and were troubled by the same opponents at the Rio Olympics — the Colts were quick to get off the blocks.

Canada’s last played a competitive match back in May and theirs is a bunch largely made up of semi-professionals. But India did just enough to back their credentials of being title contenders. The team also showed depth as it didn’t just depend on those star players who have been part of senior teams. India showed they aren’t just about Harjeet Singh’s creativity in the midfield or the powerful diagonal balls that Harmanpreet Singh drills in and creates panic in opponent’s ‘D’. They have variety.

Like most days, Harjeet and Harmanpreet were spot on once again. However, Harmanpreet was disappointing when it came to penalty corners conversion. This was perhaps the only cause of the concern for the coaches.

There were some other delightful performances. Parvinder Singh made a few darting runs from the right. He created numerous scoring opportunities with his smart wingplay and even hit the goalpost once. Though not as quick as SV Sunil, he had enough pace to move past the Canadian back line and play the minus towards Armaan Qureshi or Mandeep Singh, the two forwards. Mandeep was at the end of one of them, scoring an opportunistic goal like he often does. With 60 senior international appearances to his name, Mandeep is the most experienced player in this team.

Full back Dipsan Tirkey was rock solid, anticipating moves and cutting passes without making a single error in the game. His tackles were clean and ensured the team doesn’t lose its shape. Tirkey’s solid play and Varun Kumar’s flamboyance, in a way, define this side. This is a balanced side that has players of different styles and temperament.

Coach Harendra Kumar, who has historically been effective with junior teams, has worked with this bunch, along with his assistant Romeo James, for the past three years. During this period, the team has played tournaments in Malaysia, Australia and Europe.

The stand-out feature of this team was it’s calm confidence. And it happens with most teasers, this one too has created a buzz and left the fans wanting for more.

Germany struggle past Spain

Lucknow: Six-time champions Germany started their title defence on a shaky note by eking out a close 2-1 win over Spain in a Pool C match. Germany opened the scoring in the 25th minute of the match through Anton Boeckel's field strike to go into half time with a one-goal cushion.

But Spain forged their way back after the break and levelled the scores when Manual Bordas Fabregas found the net with a field effort in the 48th minute.

The Germans, though, had the last laugh scoring the winner seven minutes from regulation time through a penalty corner conversion by Timm Herzbruch (63rd minute).

PTI

Canada’s last played a competitive match back in May and theirs is a bunch largely made up of semi-professionals.

Varun Kumar celebrates a goal during India’s 4-0 win over Canada in their opening match of the junior World Cup.