New Delhi, October 23 (IANS). India captain Harmanpreet Singh, known across the world for his goalscoring ability, missed a crucial penalty stroke against Germany in the first match of the two-match bilateral hockey series at the Major Dhyanchand National Stadium on Wednesday.
After the match, the Indian captain talked about his missed opportunity and said on the team's performance that the team will make a comeback in the next match.
“It's part of the game, I also dodged the goalkeeper, but he made a good save. If we look at the whole game, we did well. We handled the ball well, but in defence,” he told IANS after the match. We can definitely improve. We will work on where we are lacking for the next match.”
Harmanpreet has been India's most successful scorer in recent matches. He has been the top scorer for the country in the Asian Champions Trophy and Paris Olympics.
Germany made the first attack into India's circle early in the game and Heinrich Mertgens scored the first goal of the match for Germany. India were struggling in the match while Germany tried to double their lead. During this period, India also got some opportunities but it was not successful in it.
In the second quarter, India kept Germany on the backfoot in search of an equaliser. The pressure earned India three penalty corners, but Sanjay, Amit and Harmanpreet failed to convert the chances.
India were awarded a penalty stroke with three minutes left in the quarter, but German goalkeeper Joshua Onyekw Nnaji kept Germany's lead in the game by stopping Harmanpreet's shot.
In the last minute of the half, Germany counterattacked and won a penalty corner. Lucas Windfeder charged forward and found the gap between goalkeeper Suraj Karkera and Jarmanpreet Singh to double Germany's lead in the second half.
India tried hard in the third quarter, but Germany matched them and ensured there were no scoring chances for most of the quarter.
India got another penalty corner in the fifth minute, but Harmanpreet's flick was saved by the opposing team's goalkeeper.
Goalkeeper Krishna Pathak deflected Benedict Schwarzhaupt's shot and India began their counter-attack, destabilizing the German defence, but Harmanpreet's reverse shot narrowly missed the side netting.
As the last quarter started, Germany was trying to increase its lead further, but Amit Rohidas was ready to avert any threat. India, on the other hand, continued to look for their first goal but failed to create scoring opportunities and the match ended 2–0 in favor of Germany.
–IANS
AMJ/AKJ
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