Hockey World Cup: After game of contrasting halves, 2-2 scoreline a fair reflection of India and Belgium

“Murde ke kafan ko itna maaro ki murda bhi na uth paaye.” Harendra Singh is not a poet, but on the odd occasion when the Indian hockey coach tries his hand at shayri, something like the above comes out. Subtly and palatably translated, it means ensuring that when you have opposition on the mat, don’t give them any chance to recover. When the whistle blew at the end of 60 minutes on Sunday, Indian players could well be muttering that sher to themselves. Away from the glare of broadcaster’s camera, Indian and Belgian men dropped to their haunches. The freeze frame didn’t need a caption; the few seconds that they stayed put told the story of the match. After expending their all on the turf, the sweat-soaked men waited for their pounding hearts to settle before they stood, one after another, in brutal realisation of the scoreline that said everything and nothing at once. It was that kind of game. It was going to be a battle of small margins. For two teams whose differences only accentuate their commonalities, a 2-2 scoreline was a poetic justice in certain ways. And yet when the game began, there was nothing poetic about India’s unsettled first-half. Belgium ratcheted up a symphony of high-pressing waves that threatened to swamp India’s goalpost. They mounted attacks in waves, from the left and from the right, on the ground and in the air, and looked to score every time they got a decent touch on the ball. [caption id=“attachment_5661041” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] India celebrate their second goal against Belgium on Sunday. AFP[/caption] Harendra would later say that the team was not surprised by Belgium’s game. To India’s credit, the defence held well. Two penalty corners (PCs) arrived in the first minute, and India managed to keep them away. “Belgium’s high-pressing game didn’t come as a surprise to us. I think they knew that as the match progresses, India will come back strongly. The boys utilised all the energy coming from the crowd. We had discussed about Belgium’s full press, and we knew they will pull out one of their midfielders to attack,” he said later. In the eighth minute, Belgium got another PC, and this time Alexander Hendrickx nutmegged PR Sreejesh on his right with a low drag-flick to give the Olympic silver-medallists an early advantage and silence a full house. “We knew that they were on the attack, but a one-goal advantage can be neutralised anytime. I think we did not panic,” Simranjeet Singh, who later scored India’s second goal, said after the match. Local hero Birendra Lakra and Varun Kumar defended resolutely, as India tried hard to get the possession back. The Belgians made them run after the ball, testing their lungs, legs, and heart. India, instead of taking the aerial route, tried to dribble their way past the flanks, but unlike South Africa, they were marked well. “There was tight marking and they were trying to squeeze us at the half-line and snatch balls. They made us run behind the ball in the first half,” Harendra reflected. It was a typical European power play, though Indians’ profligacy - papered over by a lightweight opposition in their previous match - stood out in the first half. In the final minutes of the first quarter, Lakra’s rasping pass was deflected by Dilpreet in the D to Mandeep Singh, who failed to beat goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch. Then, in the second quarter, Dilpreet picked the ball in the Belgian half and charged in the D, but instead of passing to Lalit Upadhyay for a tap-in, he went for an opportunistic goal from an acute angle and missed. “The Belgians are taller and bigger, and they used their physique to a great advantage. They played a very physical game,” Simranjeet said. Belgium dominated ball-possession and circle entries in the first half, and if not for some excellent defending, the scoreline would have looked worse. “We missed a lot of chances… quite a few scoring opportunities in the first half. They got some very good opportunities too, but our defence was really solid,” Manpreet said. The story of the match though lies in what Harendra told his boys at the half-time, for there was a marked change in India’s approach. “The way we played in the second half is our natural style, and we have to stick to that. We could not play like that in the first half, but in the third quarter, we understood what’s required. We tried vertical passing, and put more energy in the game. “Out of our six defenders, four — Varun Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas — have very good flick pass. They can throw (scoop) on the run to surprise the opponents. That’s why we had kept two forwards at the Belgian baseline. But in the first half, we were running behind the ball. We didn’t get too many balls, and we made an unforced error in every second pass. A lot of our passes went to the opponent’s stick and our defenders didn’t get many chances to hit long aerial balls,” he said. All of that changed completely in the third quarter though, and India came out brimming with purpose. The vertical passing increases, and so did the circle entries. Early in that quarter, an aerial ball from Harmanpreet was expertly trapped by Simranjeet, who sent it to Dilpreet in the D, but the youngster was denied by goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch. India continued their aggression, and soon Lalit Upadhyay found Manpreet on the run, whose deflection was stopped by a Belgian defender, but Lalit was on hand to force a PC. Harmanpreet went right-high but Vanasch saved with his stick. “We changed the structure slightly (at halftime). That worked really well. We started shifting the ball vertically. We had lot of creative midfielders who can change directions, and you saw Manpreet play a lot of long passes and short passes in the centre,” Harendra explained. “They dominated possession in the first half. So at half-time, we decided to block their key players, and we were quite successful in doing so,” Manpreet said. Now, India pressed hard for an equaliser and their fitness ensured their bodies matched their intent. Soon, India earned their second PC after Nilakanta Sharma found van Doren’s foot. Varun’s goal bound drag flick hit a defender and India got a penalty stroke. Harmanpreet slotted the ball in to draw level. “Belgium were losing gas in the third and fourth quarter. We did double tackling. Whether we were behind the ball or chasing it, we maintained pace. I am proud of our fitness. I have never seen such a fit Indian team. Whether we have the ball or not, we can’t drop our energy. We need to make the opponents’ life miserable,” Harendra said. India started the next quarter where they left the previous one. Amid an air of inevitability, Simranjeet put them in the lead in the 47th minute after a neat deflection off a Nilakanta pass got the better of Vanasch. With five minutes remaining on the clock, Belgium removed their goalkeeper, and while it presented India a chance to score, it also offered the visitors an extra man to press. The moved worked well, as almost on cue, Simon Gougnard got the ball through Sreejesh’s legs - Indian custodian’s second such error in the match - and Belgium equalised. “We defended well in the last quarter. They scored the equaliser after getting an extra man which obviously increases your striking potential. So you can’t say it was a typical last-minute goal from us,” said Manpreet. Harendra, though, was more forthcoming. “I don’t think it was an unfortunate goal. The ball was with us. We snatched the ball in the circle, but we tried to run with it instead of simply passing it. That’s why I always say that getting a turnover is an art but giving it is suicide. In that case, nobody can save you, and I think we paid the price.” In the end though, a 2-2 result is a fair reflection of the match, and leaves the Pool wide open. India, who next play Canada on 8 December, would do well to remember their coach’s wild attempt at poetry. For the full Hockey World Cup 2018 schedule, click here For all the results from the Hockey World Cup 2018, click here For the Hockey World Cup 2018 standings, click here To read stories from our Hockey World Cup memories series, click here To read legends' take on Indian hockey team's performances at the World Cup, click here To read stories from The Hockey Insider series, click here ​