New Delhi: Germany goalkeeper Joshua Onyekwue Nnaji had a remarkable time inside the goalpost during the first bilateral match against India on Wednesday at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in what was the return of international hockey to the national capital after more than a decade.
Though Joshua has played two matches for Germany against Spain in the FIH Pro League before coming to India, the Leverkusen-born player deemed the match against India as his first international match for Germany given that he played those two games against a Spain side comprising their U-21 players.
Joshua wasn’t the first-choice goalkeeper for the Die Honamas, but got the nod ahead of Jean-Paul Danneberg, who was part of the Paris Olympics silver-medal winning team. Danneberg experienced visa issues before he finally arrived in India on the morning the first match (October 23). As a result, Germany coaching staff decided to field Joshua in the first game and play the senior Danneberg for the next in the two Test matches.
It was a match where Joshua experienced adulation for his composure and ingenuity inside the goalpost. This was mostly a similar Indian side that almost gave a threat to Germany during the semifinals of the Paris Games in August, scoring two goals against Danneberg. Joshua managed to keep the hosts at bay for four quarters.
There was a much relief from Joshua and his German teammates when Dilpreet Singh’s goal in the second quarter wasn’t awarded to India. Instead, Germany ended up conceding a penalty stroke after a defender was spotted in contact of the ball with the leg. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh, one known to get his penalty strokes swiftly past the opponent’s goalkeepers, was left stunned as the young German moved to his right to block low shot from his left foot.
It was that moment when India were denied the equaliser, which would have certainly given them the confidence to make huge inroads in the rest of the game. But Joshua’s save further allowed Germans to build pressure after they converted a second penalty corner just before the dying minutes of the first half. The lead was doubled and India never found their way back into the game from thereof.
“They (our goalkeepers) are definitely very good. Hopefully, I will get the chance to show how good I am and be a part of the team in the future. The other guys have a lot more experience than I do. They have played the Olympic sports and Euro sports. They have also been part of World Cup winning team,” Joshua told a couple reporters after the match.
“Very difficult for myself to get a spot in the team. I will do my best and have to focus on myself, my performance and my strengths. To be at the international level, you can’t be good at one game you need to be good for the entire year. That’s what the culture of our team is,” he added.
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How Joshua started playing hockey?
Joshua’s mother owned a restaurant in a hockey club in Leverkusen where she would daily go for work and be occupied for the major part of the day. Joshua often visited the restaurant along with his sister. From there, he got the first sight of hockey. By observing club players compete on a regular basis, a young Joshua started developing an interest for the sports.
“I wanted to run and play a little bit of hockey. I enjoyed looking at the goalkeepers. Just scoring goals at some point. I was trying to get some. And that’s how I came to hockey,” the 21-year-old said.
“I tried football when I was like 14 you know. I’m going to have to decide what I want to be in the future.
And I decided what to do. Because I enjoyed it so much now. And that’s all you want to do,” he added.
Joshua, who is currently pursuing corporate management back at home, mentioned that hockey players in his country need to look for a second option other than solely playing the sport for better earnings at a certain stage.
“I think all of us, they make a living by (playing) hockey. But when you’re a regular Bundesliga player,
then you really have to work and really get you to study. I mean, we will not be rich after our career.
So we have to get us like a second career. So, yeah, hockey’s our first career. And then we have to get into the business,” he signed off.
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