Dad, Menezes dazzle as India break Argentina jinx

Stalwart right winger Mukesh Kumar accounted for the remaining goal scored by his team.

Dad gave India the lead in the 25th minute. Following a stiff penalty-corner essay by full-back Dilip Tirkey which rose waist-high off Argentinian goalkeeper Pablo Moreira’s boot, slammed the ball with a reverse swing of his stick high into the far corner of the net.

The Indians increased the lead just before the breather when mercurial forward Dhanraj Pillay gave a pass to Baljit Dhillon who sent it forward from the 25-yard-line for Mukesh Kumar to slot in an angular shot past Moreira.

India completed the rout 10 minutes from the end when Dad hammered home a Dhillon cross from the right.

While India have a record of playing very well against even tough teams like Germany, they have always run into trouble against the Latin Americans and a jinx was broken on Sunday.

In the Atlanta Games four years ago India went down 0-1 to Argentina which cost them a semi-final spot and then they finished a lowly eighth, their worst-ever showing in the Olympics.

All such fears were put to rest as the Bangkok Asian Games champions asserted themselves early on and never let off the pressure.

The fact that Argentina got as many as nine penalty corners against four of India certainly does not reflect truly the superiority the latter enjoyed throughout the match.

The South Americans did all the pressing in the initial stages of the match and at the fag end of it too, but could not breach the strong Indian defensive wall manned with aplomb by Tirkey.

Argentina began on an aggressive note in the match, watched by a good number of Indian fans in the crowd, and forced the first penalty-corner in the fifth minute. But Jorge Lombi’s scoop was palmed away to safety by Indian custodian Menezes.

Lombi was at it once again soon, coming in from the right flank only to be dispossessed by Tirkey.

It took the Indians about 10 minutes to find their bearings. Their first real chance at the goal came when Dad’s free-hit from the right went to half back Mohd Riaz whose try rose over the bar off Mukesh Kumar’s stick.

Frustration began creeping into the Argentinian ranks by this time and they started indulging in rough play. In the 21st minute Argengina’s German Orozoo was shown the yellow card by umpire Rudy Wolter of Germany.

Later Carlos Retegui was also ordered to cool his heels temporarily by Malaysian umpire Amarjit Singh for bringing down Dhillon on the left flank.

The Indian pressure continued. Spearhead Pillay was blocked by Argentina’s Pellegrino and Dad scored their first goal off the resultant penalty corner award, their first one.

Mukesh Kumar’s opportunistic strike seconds before the half-time was another big morale booster for the Indians for the rest of the match.

On change of ends, the Argentines tried to claw their way back into the match and in a matter of only eight minutes forced four penalty-corners, but Menezes rose up to the occasion to block all the shots in brilliant style.

In between the spate of penalty corners earned by Argentina, the Indians wasted one while another combined move between Ramandeep and Pillay ended with Mukesh Kumar driving straight to Argentina’s goalkeeper Moreira. Mukesh also shot wide another cross from the right by fellow-veteran Pillay.

The Argentinians were getting desperate and the hard-working Lombi was given temporary marching orders by umpire Wolter for charging at Dinesh Nayak.

And then came India’s final goal when the ideally placed Dad shot home the cross from Dhillon.

It was then the turn of the Indians to waste two penalty-corners. Dinesh Thakur was also temporarily suspended by Walter for dangerous play before the South Americans earned their last three penalty corner awards, the final one coming with just four seconds of play left.

Menezes had blocked Lombi’s shot brilliantly off the penultimate award.

Chief coach Vasudevan Baskaran expressed his happiness that the team had won without conceding a goal.

“I would have been happier if our defence had settled down earlier”, said Baskaran who was the captain when India last won a medal in hockey at the Olympics and, that too a gold, in 1980 at Moscow.

But the Indian coach refused to single out any player for special mention, asserting that everyone did his best. “We are gearing up for our clash with Australia (on Tuesday)”, he added.

The team’s elder statesman Pillay said one always was inspired to do well in the presence of such an appreciative audience that was present here on the day.

Skipper Ramandeep Singh, who effectively bottled up the dangerous right flank of the Argentinians, sustained an injury midway through the second stanza and needed five stitches on his cheekbone under the left eye.

Asked how he felt he shot back, “I can see well.” PTI