Hockey World Cup 2018, India vs South Africa: 5 Talking Points 

#2 Attack from the first second

Akashdeep Singh scored a sublime goal

Unlike the previous editions, the Indian team attacked from the word go. Following the dictum of Coach Harendra Singh's mantra of 'attacking Indian hockey' word by word, the Indian hockey team literally bulldozed their way throughout the game, refusing the South African team even a single opportunity to turn the tables.

Only 10 minutes into the game, India had set the writing on the wall when Mandeep Singh struck the ball off the rebound of a penalty corner that India had received into the South African goalpost, and with that there was no looking back. Except for a brief lull in the second quarter, the Indians dominated throughout the game, creating chances that converted into brilliant goals.

Also, a significant improvement that was visible in the match was the way India converted penalty corners into brilliant goals. Even if they missed on drag flicks, they hit the ball into the goalpost on the rebound, as in the case of Mandeep Singh.