A late fightback by the Men in Blue denied Argentina their third win of the Six Nations Championship here in Valencia. Trailing 1-3 with fifteen minutes remaining, the Indian team upped the ante late into the second half and struck twice to bounce back to the final scoreline of 3-3. Given their poor head-to-head record against Argentina, today’s hard-earned result will provide quite a lot of encouragement before they take on Spain on Sunday for the final group fixture at the same venue.
FULL TIME! India 3-3 Argentina.
60’ – It’s been a tireless final quarter performance by the Indians who are still darting forward in numbers in their bid to find a winner in the closing minutes.
57’ – GOAL! It’s Devinder Sunil Walmiki with an impeccable flick high into the far corner of the Argentinian goal from an acute angle at the near post. It’s India 3-3 Argentina with 3 minutes left on the clock.
52’ – Half of the final quarter has been played and it’s an all-Indian show in the middle with the Blueshirts completely dictating proceedings! Certainly a welcome sight after a below average display across the first three quarters, but can they find the critical equaliser now?
47’ – GOAL! Ramandeep Singh pushes the ball into the net to pull one back for India early into the 4th quarter! Could this be the start of an Indian comeback? Argentina 3-2 India.
End of Q3. Argentina lead India by 3 goals to 1. India left with some catching-up to do if they are to avoid slumping to their third defeat of the tournament.
44’ – Penalty corner to India! A lofted drag-flick by Rupinder is brilliantly stopped by the keeper’s outstretched right hand to deny them a second goal.
43’ – Lucas Vila pulls off an extensive run into the Indian final third but his shot misses the target by a fair distance. Not much time left for the Men in Blue to stage a comeback now, given how few chances they are managing to create.
41’ – Rupinder is involved in an ugly collision just inside the circle but thankfully, is unharmed.
39’ – An adventurous run from the left flank by skipper Sardara leads to a cross into the middle which finds no takers to end up with the Argentinians.
36’ – The game has been interrupted for a while now because of the presence of an excessive number of players on the pitch. The adjudicators are trying to resolve the matter.
33’ – SV Sunil scampers across in front of the Argentinian goal-face but cannot turn it in to reduce their deficit.
Action resumes for the second half.
HALF-TIME! Argentina 3-1 India
30’ – GOAL! India concede yet another closing minute goal with Lucas Vila driving the ball high into the net past a diving Vikas Dahiya seconds before the hooter went off to signal the halfway mark.
29’ – We’ve seen some patches of individual brilliance from India’s midfielders but not too many effective forward movements. Akashdeep’s attempted cross from the far right goes out of play at the near post.
21’ – GOAL! Off the second penalty corner opportunity in quick succession, Gonzalo Peillat makes it 2-1 for Argentina with a thunderous strike.
20’ – A penalty corner for Argentina after some protest from the Men in Blue is skied by the drag-flicker without troubling the Indian woodwork.
16’ – GOAL! Rupinder makes no mistake with the penalty stroke that India earned almost immediately after coming onto the field for the second quarter. It’s 1-1 now.
15’ – GOAL! The closing minutes of the first quarter have seen the ball exchange ends rapidly before Matias Paredes found the net just before the referee’s whistle. Argentina 1-0 India.
11’ – Both teams have had a fair share of possession but no clear chance that could find the first breakthrough for either side here at the Campo de Hockey de Valencia.
7’ – A fine receive inside the D by Akashdeep Singh goes futile as the striker fails to direct his shot into the net.
Conditions are bright and sunny here in Valencia today as two of the bigger names in World Hockey lock horns with each other.
2’ – It’s the Indians who push back from the centre to get us underway. India have an early long corner after their first attack was checked just outside the circle.
We’re just 10 minutes away from live action now.
Hello! Good Evening!
India take on on Argentina on Day 4 of the Six Nations Invitational Tournament in Valencia, Spain.
We are at the halfway mark of the final preparatory event for the Men in Blue ahead of their 2016 Rio Olympics appearance. With Argentina and hosts Spain being the only two sides remaining to be played, it has been a largely disappointing outing for the Indian men’s hockey team in Valencia.
So far, India’s performance has left a lot of questions unanswered in the minds of fans and followers all around. Merely two weeks after their spirited display at the 2016 FIH Champions Trophy in London, they are failing to conjure up anything worthwhile out there on the field despite having the experienced seniors back within the first team to lead the charge.
Also Read: Six Nations Invitational 2016: India lose to New Zealand in close encounter
Head coach Roelant Oltmans’ strategy to swap so many players in a bid to find the perfect mix is clearly not working. The concerns get multiplied in view of the fact that in the Olympics next month, the Indian team will face their fellow Group B members Germany, Argentina and Ireland once again in the pool matches.
Today’s match brings the 5th-ranked Indian side head-to-head against Argentina who find themselves at 7th place as per the latest FIH rankings. Although the seedings would favour the Blueshirts, it should be noted that India have not managed to defeat the South American team in any of their meetings over the past two years.
Last November, Argentina got the better of the Indian team in a 3-0 result in the Hockey World League prior to which, they’d handed a similar fate at the 2014 Champions Trophy when they emerged victorious with a 4-2 scoreline.
Let us now take a look at how all the teams are poised after three complete days of action at the Six Nations Championship:
Today’s India vs Argentina, Men’s Hockey Match Time:
Play will begin at 05:30 p.m. IST.
The squad:
PR Sreejesh (VC) Vikas Dahiya, Rupinder Pal Singh, VR Raghunath, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra, Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh Manpreet Singh, Sardar Singh (C), SK Uthappa, Devinder Walmiki, Harjeet Singh, Talwinder Singh, SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah.
