FIH Pro League 2024-25: Reigning world champions Germany thrash India 4-1 as Men in Blue display weak defence

Bhubaneswar: India were found wanting against a relentless German outfit as they suffered a 1-4 drubbing at the hands of the reigning world champions in their FIH Pro League match here on Tuesday.

India were weak in defence and they lacked enough quality in the final third.

Florian Sperling gave Germany the lead with his seventh minute strike but Gurjant Singh (13th’) equalised for India within six minutes.

In what proved to be a riveting first quarter, Thies Prinz (14’) restored Germany’s lead a minute later as three goals were scored in the first quarter.

After a goalless second and third quarter, Michel Struthoff (48’) and Raphael Hartkopf (55’) scored twice in the fourth and final quarter to power Germany to a convincing win against the Paris Olympics bronze medallists.

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Senior defender Amit Rohidas led the Indian team in this match as regular skipper Harmanpreet Singh was not part of the starting XI. It was, however, not clear why the champion drag flicker did not start.

Harmanpreet, though, was also rested for the home team’s second game.

Coming into the game after a 2-0 win over Spain in their last outing, India could not begin well as Sperling drew the first blood with goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak unable to thwart the danger.

Unperturbed by the opening German strike, India responded swiftly with the experienced forward Gurjant deflecting the ball towards the opponent’s goalpost.

Germany, however, regained their lead in the blink of an eye as the ball again got the better of Pathak after it came off Prinz’s stick.

At the end of first quarter, Germany led 2-1.

India had a great chance to equalise in the 20th minute but Gurjant, trying to deflect a pass from Rajinder, missed the target.

Four minutes later, Arshdeep Singh missed the target by a whisker, even as substitute goalkeeper Suraj Karkera denied Sperling.

In the action before half time, India had more possession but lacked finishing as Germany capitalised on their chances to take the lead.

As the match entered the third quarter, India needed to improve their performance inside the circle, but the Germans remained calm and held on to their lead.

Penalty corners continued to be a problem for India in the third quarter as they failed to convert them.

Instead, Germany scored twice within seven minutes in the fourth and final quarter to seal the match in their favour.

This is India’s second loss in three matches.

Having already scored 10 goals in four Pro League matches, Germany were expected to test India’s defence, and the number of goals indicated that the visitors did their job pretty well.