It’s not often that the conqueror looks more disillusioned than the vanquished.
Raul Ehren, the Dutch coach, was disconsolate that his team didn’t play up to its lofty standards. His Indian counterpart Harendra Singh looked upbeat that, for long spells, his players ‘troubled’ the Netherlands and that their game plan was ‘well executed’. The players from both teams, as they trudged back to their dug-outs, mirrored their coaches emotions.
Going purely by the body-language, it would have been difficult for the uninitiated to tell the winner from the loser. For the record, it was the Netherlands who won 4-2. A scoreline flattering for many but ‘problematic’ for the Dutch.
Then, the context too would have been lost on most.
This was a battle of unequals. A match between a team that did not qualify for last year’s Olympics and hasn’t ever played a World Cup semifinal against a side that has — take a deep breath — won the World Cups in 2006, 2014, 2018 and 2022, the Olympics in 2008, 2012, 2020 and 2024, the European Championships in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023 and the Pro League 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
In other words, there’s the Netherlands at the top, a yawning gap in between, followed by seven other countries and then India at 9. There’s more disparaging stats, but these should suffice.
So, before the two teams met for the first time in this new Olympic cycle, Harendra had a simple message for his players. “I told them, ‘Push them hard, number 1-ranked teams don’t like to be pushed around.’”
His players did just that.
The night began on an emotional note: a large tifo of Savita Punia unfurled from the stands celebrating her 300th international appearance, only the second Indian to reach this milestone after Vandana Kataria. Savita got misty-eyed as she was felicitated before the anthems but the ruthless Dutch were in no mood to play ball.
It took only seven minutes for Emma Reijnen to breach Savita’s goals and for a moment, it looked like the former India captain’s big night would be ruined by a 5-plus goal hammering that was so common not too long ago.
But India, somewhat unexpectedly, came back strong showing glimpses of their solid show from two evenings ago when they defeated Germany by a goal.
Salima Tete controlled the pace in the midfield. Lalremsiami and Sushila Chanu barked instructions at the younger players around her — and they were many — telling them to shuffle right, then left, press forward and retreat when the ball was lost.
The ball moved from stick-to-stick with precision and moved forward in cohesion. They had the Dutch on the backfoot — a novel feeling for them — and under that pressure, they crumbled. India racked up one circle entry after another but did not have anyone to convert it into a goal.
It’s an element Harendra lamented. “We are doing well to create chances. But one thing we can do better is scoring goals,” he said after the match. This was in the backdrop that India, despite giving everything they had, ended up lost by a two-goal margin.
But with the circle entries they managed, India at least earned a lot of penalty corners — 13 to be exact. India have always had trouble converting PCs and to understand why, Harendra took his drag-flickers to a biomechanics expert, who analysed the percentage of muscles being used during the drag-flicks and how they can be used better.
Based on the outcome of those tests, the training modules of the flickers were altered. It might be too soon to draw a conclusion, but the early signs have been encouraging.
India scored from a couple of PCs in their first match of the Pro League and on Monday, the two goals they scored were both from corners, with Udita scoring a brace. There could well have been a third but Deepika’s thunderous flick hit the crossbar, denying her a much-deserved goal.
The Dutch didn’t create much but from the few shots they managed, they scored. And won. “India had 14 penalty corners in six games and today, we gave away 12 (13). If that’s happening to you as Olympic champion, then either you are doing something wrong, or they are doing something right. Today, it was a case of both,” an upset Ehren said. “It was a poor performance.”
Playacting called out
The Indian men lost 2-3 to England later as the two teams dished out another classic. But the match saw a rare instance where a player was called out for play acting on the big screen by the TV umpire.
In the third quarter, Sam Ward, England’s record goalscorer, was vying for the ball with Sukhjeet Singh inside the English ‘D’. Ward went down dramatically holding his face, much to the shock of Sukhjeet who looked surprised. England then asked for a review, alleging intentional dangerous play.
But when the replay was shown on the big screen, Ward was left red-faced. It showed him going to the ground without much contact, triggering laughs from the stands, dug-out and even the players on field. Ward sheepishly looked around the walked away from the crowd and his embarrassment deepened when the TV umpire not only rejected England’s accusation of dangerous play but said on the mic: “No dangerous play, over-reaction from No. 13.”
Going purely by the body-language, it would have been difficult for the uninitiated to tell the winner from the loser. For the record, it was the Netherlands who won 4-2. A scoreline flattering for many but ‘problematic’ for the Dutch. (Hockey India X) 
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