Fuchs breaks Child’s heart, yet again

ONE WONDERS what was said, if anything at all, when—rather, if—simon Child and Florian Fuchs crossed each other’s paths at the team hotel or at the stadium corridors. When Delhi Waveriders and Dabang Mumbai lined up, the two players just smiled and shook hands. There was minimal eye contact and certainly no words were exchanged.

These are two friendly but fiercely competitive young men at the peak of their careers. And roughly six months ago, Child suffered easily the biggest heartbreak of his sporting career courtesy Fuchs. His country, New Zealand, was up 2-0 against Germany in the quarterfinals of the Rio Games.

Six minutes were left on the clock when the 2012 champions began to claw their way back in and equalized with 40 seconds still to be played. New Zealand, it seemed, had resigned to the fact that the match was headed to shootouts.

Not just them, everyone in the stadium was preparing for the tie-breakers. The German coach, Valentin Altenburg, even began to make notes. Everyone but Florian Fuchs. The German forward scored the winning goal with just one second on the clock. One second. It’s a match few hockey fans would forget.

It wasn’t Germany vs New Zealand at the Shivaji Stadium on Wednesday. But two central characters from that match were up against each other once again. And the result was the same. Just to be sure, Child should’ve reminded his Delhi teammates of that match before they stepped on to the field. Because Delhi, momentarily, relaxed with just 24 seconds remaining. Well, with Fuchs around, it can’t be ‘just’ 24 seconds.

Priceless predator

As was the case back in August, Fuchs had done precious little in the match to merit any attention. He wandered around the Delhi ‘D’ but hardly posed any threat. There were a few missed traps and a couple of half-chances, which he bottled. But he popped in the final minute out of nowhere.

From the right flank, near the 25-yard line, Harmanpreet Singh drilled one of his now-trademark diagonal balls. There was a wall of white-and-green t-shirts in front of him but the ball, somehow, went past those defenders towards the far post on the goalkeeper’s right.

Child couldn’t mask the horror on his face when he saw that Fuchs stood there, unmarked. The German, who is the highest goalscorer in the HIL this season (five field goals, which count as 10) simply had to tap in. From a yard out, he wasn’t going to miss. He beat Vincent Vanasch. Mumbai, who were down 1-2, were now 3-2 up because in the HIL, field goals count as 2. Fuchs, once again, broke Child’s heart and taught rest of the Delhi players a harsh lesson.

The German also proved why he is one of the highest-paid players in the league. The German had skipped the earlier editions of the HIL to pursue a degree in Business Administration.

Once the budding economist earned his degree, he decided to travel to India. A few eyebrows were raised when Mumbai decided to shell out $96,000 for him at the auctions in 2015. But those who had seen him in the Champions Trophy the previous year would’ve had little doubts that Fuchs was a smart buy.

Spellbinding stick-work

Since then, Fuchs has gone on to become one of Germany’s most important players. A serial poacher, his mesmerising stick-work inside the circle is well complemented by his knack of being at the right place at the right time. Bambi, as he is called because of his skinny legs, has shown that time and again. You only need to ask Child and rest of his teammates.

“They make every second count,” Child had said about the Germans after the Rio quarterfinals. Maybe he should’ve repeated these words in the Delhi dressing room before Wednesday’s match.