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Netherlands – the 2014 Hockey World League champions – experienced a bit of a disappointment losing to world champions Australia in the semifinals of the Hockey World League Final Round and will be now India’s opponents in Sunday’s bronze medal play-off tie in Raipur on Sunday.
The Dutch will enjoy the psychological advantage of beating India 3-1 in the league phase, but it will count for nothing in the knockout stage as well saw what happened to Great Britain, who were unbeaten in the league stage, only to be toppled in the quarterfinals by India.
The home side can take plenty of inspiration from their 3-2 win at the 2014 Champions Trophy in Bhubaneshwar – their first win in eighteen years – the last win coming at the 1996 Olympic qualifying tournament in Spain.
It was a match that all goals scored in the second half as goals eluded both teams in the opening half. SV Sunil gave home fans much to rejoice about when he deflected home a long ball from Gurjinder Singh only to see Dutch equalized a few minutes later through Mink van der Weerden. India struck twice in two minutes through Manpreet Singh and Rupinder Pal Singh to hold a 3-1 lead with ten minutes remaining. Mink van der Weerden did score a late goal, but India ensured the final moments to close out a famous win.
India have lost to the Netherlands eight times in their last twelve meetings, winning once and drawing thrice. India held the Dutch to a 3-3 draw in the 2009 Test series in game where Sandeep Singh scored twice and Gurwinder Singh Chandi scored once. At the 2009 Punjab Gold Cup, India held the Netherlands to 2-2 and 4-4 draws respectively.
India had lost 0-2 in the 2013 Hockey World League Semifinal Round and 2-3 at the 2012 London Olympics.
India vs Netherlands Recent Head-to-Head Record
| No. | Tournament | Result |
| 1. | 2014 Champions Trophy | India 3-2 |
| 2. | 2014 European Tour | Netherlands 2-1 |
| 3. | 2014 European Tour | Netherlands 4-2 |
| 4. | Hockey World League Semifinal | Netherlands 2-0 |
| 5. | London Olympics | Netherlands 3-2 |
