India vs Germany Highlights, FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifier: GER beat IND in sudden death of penalty shootout to reach Paris 2024

Sonika to take the second penalty for India in the penalty shootout but she misses. 

Nolte follows it with a cheeky nutmeg to take Germany through to Paris 2024 in sudden death of the penalty shootout!

Sangita misses her penalty but Zimmermann, who gets one past Savita, is deemed to have fouled the Indian captain. And we'll go into another set of these. 

LALREMSIAMI KEEPS INDIA IN THE CONTEST!

This'll go to the sudden death as it ends in 3-3 in the shootout. 

Lisa Nolte scores for Germany in the fifth kick and the onus is on India to keep this alive. 

Shootout, GER 3-2 IND 

Neha tries to replicate Lorenz but is snuffed out by Sonntag. India with a second straight miss. 

Shootout, GER 2-2 IND 

Lorenz to bring the Germans back into this one and she does just that, buries it past the Indian captain. 

Shootout, GER 2-2 IND

Navneet with a chance to bury the game, but she misses. The Germans are still in the game. 

Shootout, GER 1-2 IND

Schroeder to take the third penalty for the Germans and Savita saves it! What a game the Indian captain has had!

Shootout, GER 1-2 IND 

Sonika gets past Sonntag and almost replicates Sangita's move to slot the ball into an empty net. A video referral follows to check whether the ball has gone over the line before eight seconds. It has. India have the advantage of a two-goal lead.

Shootout, GER 1-2 IND

Zimmermann will take the second penalty for the Germans, and this time Savita is unable to halt her. 

Shootout, GER 1-1 IND 

Sangita does well to lure Sonntag before making a sharp turn and finding an empty net to lend India the advantage. 

Shootout, GER 0-1 IND 

Weidemann will take the first chance for Germany but Savita - as she has been for most of this night - is right on her money to save it. India will have the chance to take a lead. 

Shootout, GER 0-0 IND

Wow!

What a game we've had in Ranchi. India found the first goal via Deepika in the first quarter and looked the better team for much of the second only for the Germans to find their way back via Charlotte Stapenhorst. A stalemate of a third quarter with more nervers jangling in the Indian quarter and then, Stapenhorst found the target late in the fourth quarter. A final twist in the tale was Ishika's goal with 90 seconds left in the game. It's a game that's deserved a shootout and shootout is what we'll get.

A good review from India and they have a penalty corner. Deepika's dragflick - on target - is saved by Sonntag. 

On the follow through PC, Ishika finds the target and India have equalised with less than two minutes left in the match. 

Q4, GER 2-2 IND 

Wow, what a goal this is! Germany win the ball in the midfield, long pass into the circle, Stapenhorst with the run and a superb steal followed by a finish that undoes Savita Punia's heroics on the night. 

Q4, GER 2-1 IND

End to end stuff as India progress down the other end. Baljeet with a chance but her shot is one without power, on the follow up, Lalremsiami traps it but the Germans have bombared too many bodies in time to snuff the danger out. 

Q4, GER 1-1 IND

Big moment in the game as Salima Tete gets a yellow and a five minute suspension for impeding a German move with her foot. 

India defend the move and Lalremsiami is off with the counter. 

Q4, GER 1-1 IND 

What a great opening for the hosts down the right. Deepika has only the goalkeeper to beat but she scoops it straight to Sonntag. A massive opportunity squandered that.

Q4, GER 1-1 IND

Vaishnavi collides with a German defender and has been escorted off the pitch, accompanied by the Indian physios. 

Meanwhile Nisha Warsi with a fantastic piece of defending to track back her marker from the midfield and prevent an opening for Stapenhorst.

Q4, GER 1-1 IND 

Savita Punia has taken her helment off as the Indian defence survive another moment of scare. Just as the third quarter comes to an end, the Indian players have looked jittery.

Stapenhorst and Lorenz come close to scoring down the end line. The Indian captain has a word with her defenders down the right. They need to find their footings. 

End of Q3, GER 1-1 IND

Germany have been pressing relentlessly and the Indian backline was called into play again, good work from Nikki Pradhan to win a foul and end the danger of the time being. 

Q3, GER 1-1 IND 

With less than four minutes left in the third quarter, Savita Punita makes a big save for India!

The Indians are looking under pressure of the occasion and the Indian captain is asking her troops to calm down. 

Q3, GER 1-1 IND 

Oh dear, Monika tries to pass it to Neha but the Indians have been caught napping deep in their own half and Germany have a glorious opportunity. Micheel's shot from the left however, goes wide of Savita Punia's goal. That could've been costly!

Q3, GER 1-1 IND 

Deepika with the run down the left flank, but she's been closed down well by the German defender but India continue to attack down the German lines. Positive signs these. 

Q3, GER 1-1 IND

India with a strong start to the third quarter. A long corner won followed by Salima Tete foxing her way through the German midfield. She has been at the heart of this team's attacking play in the last two games. More of the same from her, and India can really pull off something special here.

Q3, GER 1-1 IND 

And the crowd helps us with the countdown as Germany get the action going for the third quarter. German coach Valentin Altenburg's assessment has been for his troops to calm himself down in the second half. The Indian crowd have certainly played their part. Can they bring more of the same in this half?

Q3, GER 1-1 IND 

And that's that for the first half. Deepika had found the target from the penalty corner in the first quarter and India had looked the better team early in the second but Charlotte Stapenhorst undoes all their effort. They'll have to go again to find that lead in the next half. But from a neutral's perspective, these 30 minutes have just flown by. 

End of first half, GER 1-1 IND 

Charlotte Stapenhorst with a fantastic dummy in the India box, before turning the other way and finding the equalizer for the Germans. 

With less than three minutes left in the quarter, we're back to level peggings. 

Q2, GER 1-1 IND

The latter stages of the second quarter have seen the ball being vied for in the midfield with both teams having the intention to run down the other end immediately after robbing the other of possession. Not much space to attack. 

Q2, GER 0-1 IND

Germany have more than 30 penalty corners in this tournament so far. India have done a fantastic job to keep them down to just the one so far. 

Q2, GER 0-1 IND 

India with another opportunity down the left - India have penetrated by that side thrice in two minutes this quarter - but Selin Oruz makes a fantastic block to keep the Germans in the game. 

Q2, GER 0-1 IND 

And just like that the Indian crowd has gotten even louder and the Indian side have almost found a new life. Look at Sangita robbing the German defender off the press, not once but twice inside a minute. And India have a corner. 

Q2, GER 0-1 IND

There wasn't much time left to play when India won that penalty corner. There hadn't been a big opportunity to score for the hosts prior to that. But Deepika Thakur has ensured she made that one count and India have an advantage going into the second quarter. 

Q1 ends, GER 0-1 IND

Deepika with a fantastic piece of trap to earn this late in the first quarter with less than a minute to go. And it's Deepika on the drag flick, INDIA HAVE THE OPENING GOAL!

Struck fiercely on the first go and it ends up to the left of the German number one.

Q1 GER 0-1 IND

India make another move from the left.  Lalremsiami and Vaishnavi combine nicely, but the former is outmuscled by the Germans, who've been quick to deal with the first sighting of Indians deep in their territory. 

Q1 GER 0-0 IND

Germany with the chance. The drag flick finds the marker but it's blocked well by Savita Punia. It remains all level. 

Q1 GER 0-0 IND 

Sonika and Deepkia making inroads from the left for India, Navneet joins in and Germany are boxed in for the first time in this quarter but as has been the case with this game so far, the danger is snuffed out in time. 

Q1 GER 0-0 IND 

Germany threatening to attack from the left flank and Monika intercepts snuffs the move, India with a hint of opportunity but the German back four are quick to deal with it. No real work yet for the two sets of keepers, it's been a scrappy start to the game.

Q1 GER 0-0 IND

Three minutes into the first quarter and India have had few moments to wow the home crowd but whenever they have, the support has been very much on the expected lines. Germany with most of the possession early in this game with India yet to make inroads to the other side of the field. 

Q1, GER 0-0 IND

It's barely been a minute at the Birsa Munda Stadium and the referee blows for the penalty corner. Savita Punia is contesting the same. A word between the match officials and the Germans, it'll be a free kick. 

Q1, GER 0-0 IND

It's India who get us underway, attacking from right to left and dressed in their all blue colors. They're lined up in their standard 3-4-3 formation. Germany dressed in all whites - in their 4-2-2-2 formation - almost immediately take the possession of the ball.

A high-voltage clash in Ranchi and we have the city's favorite son, who knows a thing or two about playing in big pressure games, MS Dhoni in the stands as the two sets of players walk into the middle for the national anthems.

Valentin Altenburg, Germany coach: "Doesn't get any bigger than this, India in India."

Janneke Schopman, India coach: "Germany is a very good team. We know them well, we've played against them and we know all the players need to show up. Today is all about showing we can play Hockey."

Right then, all is in readiness at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Ranchi for this high octane clash. Indian women's hockey team, who were perhaps the story of the sport at Tokyo 2020, are one step away from making it to Paris 2024. Grab onto some popcorns, make yourselves comfy as we take you through this one. 

It's time to bring the 'A' game, place in the final is up for grabs.

Here are the lineups for India and Germany.

Send in your wishes for Team India in the comments below. #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #EnRouteToParis #indvger @CMO_Odisha @FIH_Hockey @HemantSorenJMM @Media_SAI… pic.twitter.com/BPKdavYQgB

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 18, 2024

That unmatched qualification feeling! ?

Team USA becomes the first team from #FIHOIympicQualifiers, Ranchi 2024 to book their seats for Olympics #Paris2024#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #EnRouteToParis @CMO_Odisha @FIH_Hockey @HemantSorenJMM @Media_SAI @sports_odisha… pic.twitter.com/JivN5w8Rp8

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 18, 2024

To reach Paris, India will have to do something they haven’t in close to a decade – conquer Germany. The ballsichern-ing (ball-protecting, translated loosely), horizontal-playing, all-controlling, rising-from-the-ashes Germany.

Play ‘give-and-go hockey’, retain possession, and curb Germany’s flanks-switching style, say former captain Rani Rampal and former coach Sjoerd Marijne. (Read Mihir Vasavda's copy here)

Here's how it went by for the hosts in the group stage. 

-Paris 2024 hopes hanging by a thread after defeat to USA (Read here)

-Salima Tete delivers big vs New Zealand (Read here)

-5-1 thrashing of Italy to reach semis (Read here)

It's a big one. India women's hockey team are just one step away from confirming their tickets for the 2024 Paris Olympics. They've done well to make their way to the FIH Qualifiers semifinal. Having lost to the USA, the team went on to register wins against New Zealand and Italy but this is going to be a tough one.

Germany topped their group and is collectively in sublime form and ranked sixth in the FIH rankings. They have the upper hand in head-to-head clashes as well, having bested India five teams so far in all competitions, while the latter have been victors on two occasions off the seven meetings.

India surely start as underdogs but the question is, can they throw that tag once the starting whistle sounds in Ranchi? Stay tuned as we bring you all the updates from this one.