After India beat Germany 5-3 in the second match of the bilateral series at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, India head coach Craig Fulton couldn’t help but be a little philosophical. “What we did today was just what we couldn’t do in the first match. That is sport. I don’t know how it works sometimes,” he chuckled. “When you want it to happen, it doesn’t. When you least expect it, it comes in spades.”
Spades, indeed. After a somewhat similar storyline in the first half – India trailed 0-2 on Wednesday, and 0-1 on Thursday – India turned on the style in 14 blistering minutes of hockey. Sukhjeet Singh scored in the 34th minute and 48th minute of the match, and between those two moments, India went from 0-1 to 5-1. Germany eventually got a couple of goals late in the match and bagged the series after a 3-1 shootout but the 8-goal match affair prior to that had been comfortably India’s.
It was especially the third quarter that stood out where India played some incredibly fast-paced attacking hockey against a tiring German side, scoring four goals. The blitz began when Mohammed Raheel – possibly India’s best player on the day – began dribbling his way towards the attacking circle. He fed the ball to Shilanand Lakra to his left, and the forward then shifted the ball smartly to hit a fine reverse-hit low pass into the danger area. The pass was so good that Sukhjeet just had to be present at the far post to tap the ball in. The Delhi crowd finally had an Indian goal to celebrate after a decade.
#TeamIndia ne Germany ke against ➡️ 𝙒𝙖𝙦𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙮𝙖, 𝙅𝙖𝙨𝙗𝙖𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙮𝙚, 𝙕𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙜𝙞 𝙗𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞 🥹#MenInBlue rally from 1️⃣ down to stun World No. 2 Germany, winning the 2️⃣nd match of the series 5️⃣➖3️⃣ 💪
Watch highlights on #SonyLIV pic.twitter.com/Zsbx0T1szw
— Sony LIV (@SonyLIV) October 24, 2024
That would just be the start. In the 43rd minute, as India won their 10th penalty corner, Harmanpreet Singh came to the sidelines for a quick word with Fulton. Till then in the match, India were once again trying out variations or employing different takers. But now it was time for Plan A.
Harmanpreet, smash. The captain fired a rocket past Jean Paul Danneberg’s outstretched right hand, sending the ball into the roof of the net. After going goalless in the first match, Harmanpreet would have two in two minutes as shortly after, he went low to the German goalkeeper’s right and made it 3-1.
While Harmanpreet’s mini-turnaround didn’t exactly come as a surprise, what was most pleasing from India’s perspective was the contributions of the younger players. Raheel and Vishnukant Singh were brought in as part of the four changes Fulton made, and both of them put up impressive shows in the midfield. It was Vishnukant’s pass that set up Abhishek for India’s fourth, with the forward producing a lovely bit of ball-control before firing one more past Danneberg. Then early in the final quarter, Raheel’s pass to Sukhjeet created an overload in India’s favour and the latter ran through on goal to complete a diving finish.
On the turnaround, Raheel said: “The plan at halftime was to just go all out. This was our last international match for 2024. There was no anger from Fulton, he is always calm. We were just aggressive in the third quarter. In the first half, we were missing a lot of final passes but in Q3 it all clicked.” On his own performance, as he tries to nail down a regular place in the squad, he added: “I play every match as if it’s my last match.”
Fulton was impressed too. “Raheel, Aditya (Lalage) and Vishnu.. all did well. We have to give these players an opportunity and today they were superb. We played well yesterday, but our play wasn’t sharp. Today, we were full of energy, and pressed well, scoring some really good goals. The younger players contributing was very helpful.”
Relive all the action from the PFC India vs Germany Bilateral Hockey Series 2024! 🇮🇳🇩🇪
A thrilling contest between two giants of hockey, filled with incredible moments and unforgettable plays.
From start to finish, the series delivered non-stop excitement that had everyone… pic.twitter.com/GmZTUEYtqs— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) October 24, 2024
His counterpart Andre Henning was left ruing a sloppy third quarter. The German coach also felt that the officiating in the first half was unfairly in favour of India but conceded that the mistakes his side made in the second were costly, and as his players started struggling physically, India’s quality shone through. And he signed off with a smile, praising Harmanpreet’s twin strike: “This flicker that India have… he is not the worst in the world, obviously.”
Shootout decider
While India were dominating the match in the second half, there was an announcement made in the stadium that, if the home side do indeed go on to win this match, there will be a shootout that would decide who won the drawn two-match series. It was a strange development but it meant that India would play their first shootout since PR Sreejesh retired. Up stepped Krishan Bahadur Pathak, who made two really good saves and brought out funky celebrations that would have made Sreejesh proud. But India’s penalty takers didn’t do enough to back him up, as Germany walked away with the winner’s trophy, winning it 3-1.