By In several phases of the game at the Paris Olympics 2024, India gave the defending champions Belgium a tough time on Thursday. If any positives can be taken from a loss, India can leave with their heads held high despite a 1-2 reversal against the defending men’s hockey champions Belgium.
On another sweltering day, Abhishek put India ahead with a rare open-play goal in the second quarter, but the Europeans hit back with two goals in the third period. Despite their best efforts, Harmapreet Singh & Co couldn’t fashion a turnaround. The Indian skipper had previously scored two vital goals in the penultimate minutes in games against New Zealand and Argentina. He had a chance to do likewise against Belgium, but his thunderous drag-flick was deflected away from the target by Florent van Aubel on the goal line. India asked for a video referral in the hope of a penalty stroke, but the replay provided no joy.
There were no points to show for India’s efforts on Thursday, but it was arguably their best performance so far in the tournament. They pressed high up the pitch, showed a lot of intensity, and gave the Belgians, who were coming off a 6-2 thrashing of Australia, a tough time. The defence held strong, and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh thwarted Alexander Hendrickx’s drag-flicks repeatedly, with 10 of Belgium’s 11 penalty corners going in vain. But the European stalwarts know more than one way to skin a cat.
Defeat to Belgium Sparks
At the start of the second half, Belgium raised the tempo straightaway. The ball was passed from the centre of the field to the left wing, and after some great work from van Aubel, Thibeau Stockbroekx was at the right place to just turn the ball past Sreejesh into an unprotected goal. The equaliser lifted the holders, and they had much the better of proceedings from thereon. It could be gauged from the fact that India earned just two penalty corners in the game, their primary avenue for goals in recent times.
The one penalty corner that the Belgians did find joy from didn’t bring a goal from the initial shot, with Sreejesh again keeping Hendrickx at bay. However, in the ensuing melee, it was veteran John-John Dohmen who just pushed the ball over the line for the eventual winner. Despite the defeat, India head coach Craig Fulton sounded upbeat. “It was a good performance. We just need to maintain confidence ahead of our next game and then the quarterfinals,” the South African told Jio Cinema. “Even when we had a man down due to a yellow card (shown to Raj Kumar Pal), which I didn’t think was warranted, we kept going and created a chance in the 59th minute, which was deflected away from the goal line. I would have been happier with a draw.”
