Coach Harendra Singh - Reliving the 5 most memorable matches

#3 India vs Netherlands (WC Men - Quarterfinal)

India bow out of the Odisha World Cup

The atmosphere in the Kalinga Stadium was unlike that seen for any other hockey match in conscious memory.

At stake was a place in the World Cup semifinal after a gap of 43 years, and a win had the potential to catapult India's erstwhile national game back to where it belonged.

The Indians had never beaten Holland in a World Cup ever before - but could take heart from a hard-fought draw against the Dutch at Breda earlier in the year.

The action began with a deafening roar, and soon Lalit Upadhyaya set the galleries ablaze as he cut in from the left but failed to find Simranjeet in the striking circle.

The pace was blistering, and Hertzberger's tomahawk was saved by Sreejesh, much to the delight of the home crowd. At the other end of the pitch, Harmanpreet picked Simranjeet up and the Indians earned a PC in the eleventh minute.

Akashdeep was aptly positioned to deflect Harmanpreet's flick into the net, and the Kalinga Stadium erupted with joy but settled down almost immediately as Billy Bakker found De Gues who failed to make the opportunity count.

Thierry Brinkman, however, made no such mistake and the Dutch were back on level terms a minute before the end of the first quarter.

It was anybody's game as the teams returned from the long breather and the Dutch had a PC immediately after, but Van der Weeden failed to get it right.

Tempers flared as the pressure got to the players but the Dutch seemed to be a lot calmer as compared to the Indians who looked supercharged but not clinical enough.

Mink Van der Weeden was not in the best of form but the master drag flicker could not miss many - the Indians knew that just as well, and when Amit Rohidas scampered out of his line early, Harendra's boys were left with no option but to defend a PC with one runner less.

For a man of Van der Weeden's calibre, it would have been close to scandalous if he had missed under the circumstances, and the dull thud of the ball striking the wood work sent the Kalinga Stadium into a hushed and deathly silence.

As if somewhat overawed by the situation on hand, Amit Rohidas lost his cool, and was sent off promptly, leaving the hosts with a near-impossible task against Max Caldas' boys who had begun to focus on ball possession and defence, giving little opportunity to the Indian strikers to make their way forward.

The Indians were denied a PC with seconds left on the clock, and the drooping shoulders of Harendra and co. told the tale as the home team trudged away distraught and inconsolable.

Yet, as the dust settled, hockey lovers - both in India and abroad did appreciate the riveting encounter that was played out on the pitch.

Sadly, one team had to lose, even as the Netherlands went to bag a World Cup silver - for Harendra SIngh, however, the dream lay unfulfilled yet again.