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The Indian women's hockey team have a formidable task on their hands when they take on Germany in their second group match of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Not many would have expected Sjoerd Marijne's charges to hold the fort on level terms against a team like the Netherlands for a good 30 minutes.
However, the dream 1-1 scoreline that raised the Indians' hopes at half-time was soon to change to a more ominous-looking 1-5 margin. It was the result of a storm created by the Dutch, who wreaked havoc in the attacking third.
It would be fair to say that there are not many teams in the women's game who can match the prowess of the Netherlands - and, that despite the defeat, Sjoerd Marijne's team did well to take the attack to the Dutch, albeit unsuccessfully for the most part.
The Indians now face Germany, who got the better of Great Britain by a scoreline of 2-1. It was a close-knit affair and a thrilling game to watch for everyone on Sunday.
The Germans, who won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, are currently ranked third as per the FIH and ended up fourth in the recent 2020 Hockey Pro League. Although, the rankings are not a proper reflection of their caliber as they could only play 8 games in total thanks to the cancelations following the COVID-19 outbreak.
What happened the last time India faced Germany?
Rani and co. lost all four of their tour matches against the Germans earlier this year. Despite facing defeat in every match, the Indian Eves did run their fancied opponents close as reflected by the 0-1 and 1-2 margins in the second and fourth matches at Dusseldorf.
The Germans are by no means an indomitable side as was evident from the 0-1 quarterfinal defeat against Spain in the 2018 Women's World Cup and the Indians, who have troubled teams like Great Britain and Australia in the recent past, are more than capable of making a match out of Monday's encounter.
What remains to be seen is whether the girls have managed to recover from a psychological point of view after a heavy defeat against the Netherlands.
Gurjit Kaur will need to be spot on should the Indians earn PCs while the defense cannot too many errors against the clinical Germans.
The match begins at 17:45 IST. The live action will be streamed on Sony Liv, across the Sony Sports Network and on Doordarshan in India.
Rankings:
India - 10
Germany - 3
Prediction:
If the Indian girls manage to play as they did in the 2018 World Cup, a draw is very much on the cards and an early goal for Marijne's team can make a difference as they have often displayed the ability to be resolute in defense for long periods of time.
Score Prediction: India 1 - Germany 1
