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BHUBANESWAR: As the clock approached 60 minutes, the evening air was a little smothered. On the hockey field, the temperature was very different. It kept going up, until the sweat-soaked blue shirts could stop their sprints and shake their opponents' green hands. The Indian "Cup of Hope", the 2018 Men's World Cup, had started on a five-star rating. This is India 5 – South Africa, nothing.
Schedule and results |
Table of Points | Top scorers
Akashdeep Singh, the new Indian liaison man, made his legs twinkle to spark the hopes of Harendra Singh's boys. Wednesday, for 60 minutes, they promised not to give up India.
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For the record, Simranjeet Singh's double strike in the 43rd and 46th minute inflated the final score of the day. India, after Mandeep shed first blood in the 10th minute and Akashdeep doubled to 12th. Lalit scored the fourth goal of the day in the 45th minute.
It was a delicate game to start. South Africa was an unknown commodity – it was not usual in international hockey in recent years, and India had not faced it since the Commonwealth Games in 2014 (CWG ). And there were 15,000 enthusiastic spectators at the Kalinga stadium, almost demanding a victory.
Harendra admitted this anxiety.
"The concern everyone has (before a big tournament), it made us a little cautious (at the beginning)." But we quickly regrouped, thanks to Mandeep who calmed his nerves with his goal, "said the coach.
But that made no difference to the fans. India recorded its biggest win over South Africa, improving its score 5-2 at the CWG four years ago.
On the penalty bench, India created five and converted two. The first was when South African goalkeeper Rbadie Pieterse stopped the Harmanpreet Singh drag, but Mandeep was perfectly positioned to take advantage of the rebound.
Simranjeet scored the fourth PC of India. It was a lucky goal because there was some confusion at the top of the circle while India was trying a variant. Simranjeet, well awake, hooked on the ball to score his second goal of the game.
"We are going back to the meeting room (to discuss) what led to this, but I'm glad the boys have recovered and even scored," said Harendra.
Akashdeep's new off-the-ball race again found her a place, although she was lucky, when a long balloon from Varun found Simranjeet's stick in the South African circle. But he could not control it, only to see Akashdeep at the end of the deviation to score.
The second quarter was aimless. But India was lucky not to give in. In the 25th minute, South Africans took over goals for India, but PR Sreejesh was a hindrance on both occasions.
The games of the day arrived in the third quarter, although India's performance bar dropped a bit during those 15 minutes.
One of the many Mandeep races on the new blue turf finally ended in a 43rd-minute goal. Running with the ball coming from the left, carrying it almost for a split-second, Mandeep chooses the most appropriate time to return it to Simranjeet, which adds another cushion to the score.
Two minutes later, Akashdeep brilliantly noticed the accuracy of his long ball to reach Lalit. He moved well to avoid the converging defender and deflect him to the South African goal.
Canadians were disappointed for a reason. If they had scored one of these opportunities in the second quarter, it could have forced India to play differently.
"When we lost 2-0, Sreejesh made a great save, and if it had been done for 2-1, the game would have changed, we missed the match and they made it three times. Other end.
"We could have put a lot of pressure on India.It was the biggest difference between the two teams.India has really tried its luck, we do not have it. have not done, "Hopkins said to sum up the match for his team.
A four day gap now follows the match between India and Belgium on December 2nd. The Red Lions survived the panic Wednesday at the opening game of the tournament. They beat Canada 2-1 to rank second behind India in Pool C.
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