India have less that 24 hours to recover from yet another loss in the FIH Pro League, when they take on Argentina once more in the Wagener Stadion in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. Harmanpreet Singh and co. suffered a third consecutive loss in the European Leg of the Pro League yesterday, going down 3-4 to Argentina.
While Harmanpreet Singh shined with penalty corner and penalty stroke conversions to grab a brace and Abhishek grabbed a goal, there was little else to cheer for India.
Craig Fulton’s famed ‘defend to win’ philosophy went for a toss as India’s defence switched off throughout the game, conceding at the start of quarters or even seconds after scoring. Despite the awareness of the problem with his half-time utterances, Fulton was unable to prevent his side losing their focus time after time, as Argentina struck four goals.
It’s been an unhappy European leg of the FIH Pro League for India, having lost 1-2 and and 2-3 to the Netherlands earlier. However, India’s performances in those games deserved more, especially as the Olympic champions only won with late winners in both games.
The three losses have meant that India now sit fourth in the Pro League table, with 15 points from 11 matches. League leaders Netherlands have 23 points from as many matches, and with England and Belgium ahead of India on 16 points having played three fewer games, it seems unlikely that Fulton’s side will win the Pro League.
The prize of securing a Hockey World Cup spot awarded to the winners of the Pro League seems all but gone now, and Fulton will have to focus on finishing the Pro League campaign on a high, while looking to the Asia Cup later this year as a means of World Cup qualification.
In the short-term however, he will be hoping for his side’s defending to improve as they take on Argentina today at 6:30 PM.
India vs Argentina will be live streamed on JioHotstar and broadcast on Star Sports Select. You can also follow live play-by-play action from the match on our blog, below:
