Indian men’s hockey team lost. (Pic Credit HI)
The Indian men’s hockey team showed a strong game but they could not continue their game in the shoot-out and that is why they had to face defeat at the hands of the Netherlands.
The Indian men’s team had to face defeat at the hands of the Netherlands in the FIH Pro Hockey League match on Saturday. Netherlands beat India 4-1. The match was tight in the stipulated time and the match ended in a 2-2 draw. After this, the result of the match came from the shootout where the Netherlands showed a strong game and handed India the defeat. The Indian team, however, is still at number three in the points table. He has 30 points from 15 matches. He still has one more match to play. The team of Netherlands is in the first place in the points table with 33 points from 13 matches. He still has three more matches to play. At number two is the Olympic winner Belgium with 31 points from 14 matches. He still has two matches left.
Great hockey was played between the two legendary teams of the hockey world. An exciting game was played for the full 60 minutes. Both the teams showed a strong game. India had more ball possession. Especially in the first two quarters. After this the team became a little defensive. At the same time, the Netherlands adopted the strategy of counter attack. Along with this, it was also a battle between the two best goalkeepers of the world. India’s goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and Netherlands goalkeeper Pirmeen Bloc are counted among the best goalkeepers in the world. Both made some excellent defenses.
Netherlands took the lead
However, the Netherlands scored the first goal of the match. Dirk Devilder scored this goal for him. The goal was scored in the 10th minute. Dirk showed excellent stickwork from the right flank and gave a pass to Tijman Reyenga. He put the ball in the net while hitting the Indian defender. The Indian team took the test of the Netherlands’ defense and got two consecutive penalty corners in the 10th minute. But the defense of the host team defended it.
After this, Abhishek got two chances to give India the lead but on both the occasions he could not get past the block and missed the opportunity from India’s side. India again got a penalty corner a minute later but this time too it went away. On the one hand, while Block was doing strong goalkeeping, Sreejesh was also showing a great game. He also did not allow the Netherlands to score.
Dilpreet showed her strength
India showed a great game in the second quarter. Dilpreet Singh scored a brilliant field goal in the 22nd minute. Varun Kumar gave him a quick pass, using which Dilpreet overcame the block and put the ball in the net. After changing the ends, the Netherlands got two penalty corners but they could not score. India also got a penalty corner in the third quarter but that too was gone.
Exciting match in the fourth quarter
Both the teams played strong hockey in the fourth and final quarter as well. A tough match was played between both the teams. The Netherlands, however, took the lead and in the 47th minute, Koen Bijen scored a brilliant field goal to put his team ahead. Netherlands scored two more penalty corners but failed to score. There were just 23 seconds left in the end of the match, where India scored three consecutive penalty corners. Harmanpreet Singh scored on the last penalty corner to bring India level. From here the match went into a shoot-out.
Disappointed in shootout
However, India was disappointed in the shootout. Here the Netherlands scored on four out of five occasions, while India were able to score on one occasion. Vivek Sagar scored this only goal for him. These two teams will face each other again on Sunday.
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