FIH Pro League 2020: Disciplined, determined India deliver stunning blow to world No 1 Belgium as team's ascendancy extends

Separated by a goal within 90 seconds of the start, India in the lead 1-0, both teams took different paths. Belgium ate up space, used the flanks and fired away shot after shot. India after scoring the opener in the second minute off a Mandeep Singh deflection, sat back, absorbed the blows, the goalkeeper’s, Krishan Pathak and P Sreejesh, giving a new meaning to the word ‘last line of defence.’ Both showed courage and technically were perfect, coming out and not standing on the line paid dividends as Belgian forwards couldn’t use that extra second to create space and shoot. On a larger, inspirational scale, India beat the World No 1 and World Champions 2-1 to climb to world No 4 spot in the FIH rankings. In the Pro League standings, India climb to second spot with 8 points after 3 matches, Belgium are still on top with 11 points after 5 matches.

Not since the rankings began has India ever entered the top four in World Hockey. They were World Champions in 1975 and Olympic Champions in 1980. But those days, there were no rankings. India, of course, finished 5th in the 1994 World Cup so for a brief while found itself in the top six. But this is truly a showing that has come steadily to a team which has step-by-step increased its domination and climb into the top four nations in the world.

At the break, the stats were: Belgium’s 13 shots on goal to India’s 2 while the circle penetrations gave Belgium 21 to India’s 6. Belgium had 6 PCs to none for India. The question at that point was, how long can India survive? But, whether you play defensive or offensive hockey, structures are what make you survive. Belgium raided the Indian striking circle but couldn’t trap, hold or create enough space to beat the Indian goalkeepers. The Indian defence, normally, gets rattled. Against Belgium, they held their own, kept the last line of players in a single file, trapped cleanly and as Reid said after the match “happy with the way the defence tackled.”

The first minute was an indication on how the match eventually would play out. Jarmanpreet Singh, playing Pro League for the first time, had let the ball slip but Belgian captain Thomas Briels couldn’t reach the ball in time. The counterattack flowed, a few seconds later. Vivek Prasad gave it to Raj Kumar Pal who was playing in his debut match for the senior side. Pal cut the ball back to the top of the circle where Dilpreet didn’t waste any time in hitting it towards goal. Mandeep standing a few feet away from the Belgian goalkeeper deflected it in. India had the lead 1-0. Belgium was a bit rattled.

The match had begun amidst a drizzle. The weather made the fans stay away. More importantly, the heavy turf didn’t deter the Belgians from playing both the flanks. Knowing that Belgium would attack, India packed the defence, pulling in the midfield and kept two players above the line, ready for a counterattack. By the end of the 1st Q, Belgium had five PCs. India had a goal and four extremely sharp saves from Krishan Pathak. Theoretically, forwards score goals and goalkeepers save then. By that game plan, India was playing brilliantly.

Sreejesh replaced Pathak in the second quarter. Belgium continued to attack, using both flanks to stretch the Indian defence and also ensuring that India pull players back. The midfield was suddenly with Belgium. Sreejesh saved off a Van Doren shot and two minutes later, Dohmen squeezed through a pass to Tanguy Cosyns whose smart deflection was saved by Sreejesh, again. Except for the 6th PC, India didn’t concede any in the 2nd Quarter. The worry was that India wasn’t making chances upfront. It was difficult also to play full court as players had been pulled back.

As the 3rd Q started, Belgium created their 7th PC. With Pathak playing fearlessly, Belgium needed a moment of brilliance. It came with some smart thinking of the bench as the PC stopper pushed the ball to Gauthier Boccard as the main PC flicker sold a dummy. Boccard created space on the left and by the time, the Indian defence, caught on the wrong foot, could understand the danger, he flicked high into the top right corner of the Indian goal. There was no way, any defence could have stopped that ball. Belgium had the equaliser in the 33rd minute. The scores were tied 1-1.

Stung by the Belgian equaliser, India shifted for a bit from the defensive to being adventurous. Two PCs came and off the 2nd it looked like Manpreet had found the goal. But the umpire checked it and saw that the ball had not left the striking circle. Belgium was making fast turnovers, running smoothly from the midfield, as the ball was sprayed into corners. De Kerpel found a lot of space on the right thus moving into the Indian striking circle with ease. India later in the 4th Q plugged the gap.

Tied at 1-1, both teams moved into the last and 4th Q. A minute into the quarter, 46th minute, India had their 3rd PC. Harmanpreet Singh’s flick deflected off a defender stick and reached Ramandeep Singh who made no mistake tapping in to give India a 2-1 lead. Belgium were once again chasing the match and scoreboard. They had their 8th and 9th PC. India’s defence line stood strong. By now, a little frustration was creeping into the Belgium’s play. India did have a few counters but couldn’t capitalise, losing the ball to bad passes or over playing in the midfield. With the clock showing 2:36 left in the match, Dilpreet was shown the yellow card. For the remaining time, India was down to ten men. Replays showed that Dilpreet was unlucky while Van Doren created the yellow card with a bit of gamesmanship and drama.

India had their 4th PC in the dying minutes. Belgium had already pulled out their goalkeeper. All India needed was a rising flick, but a rank bad execution saw Belgium escape and with two seconds left, earned their 13th PC. Sreejesh pulled off another save as India won a tough encounter 2-1 and beat the World Champions on the very ground, they had been crowned in December 2018.

Pathak, rightfully, walked off with the man-of-the-match.

Belgium had 40 circle penetrations to India’s 18. They had 25 shots on goal to India’s 6. And they had 13 PCs to India’s 4. India won 2-1. Belgian coach Shane McLeod summed it up aptly after the match: “India’s early goal gave them the confidence while our moves showed more desperation than thought in execution.”

The Belgian captain Thomas Briels said that they created enough opportunities to win the match. “But India defended very well, and their goalkeepers were very good. India are tough opponents and we will learn from this.”

Indian coach Graham Reid was satisfied with the performance. “I am pleased we won a tough encounter, especially the last quarter. If we come up with a similar match, the boys would know what to do. We gave away too many opportunities and there are lots to learn from a match like this.”

Reid was also happy with the boy’s energy saying the “work rate was very good.” The Indian coach made a point in India taking an early referral and wasting it saying, “we need to tighten our procedure about referrals. We couldn’t use it in the later stages of the match.”

Briels, in the end, said, “We have to find a way to beat India.” It is a potentially a big 2nd game on Sunday. With both teams playing on such fine margins, the result will yet again hinge on discipline and structure.