Not too long ago, in July to be precise, the Indian hockey team was struggling against Argentina in the six-nation hockey tournament in Spain. With the last quarter to go and the Indians trailing 1-3, some late goals saved the team the blushes in the Olympics countdown event.
On Tuesday, however, the tables were reversed. Coming off the back off a heartbreaking 1-2 defeat against Germany, India came out all guns blazing to remain in control for the major part of 60 minutes.
The 2-1 scoreline may not look that impressive but with the way in which Indian forwards kept launching attacks on the Argentine defence, the victory could well have been more thumping.
It was SV Sunil and former skipper Sardar Singh who tried to seize the advantage right at the start of the game. This led to India keeping possession for the majority of the quarter before Chinglensana Singh converted a penalty corner in the eight minute to give the lead.
The Men in Blue, thereafter, maintained pressure on the opponents and came close to converting at least twice. First, it was Ramandeep Singh's pass to Akashdeep Singh that created an opening on the left but was wasted as the young Akashdeep failed to push it inside the opponent's goal before the end of first quarter.
With temperatures soaring every passing minute, India chief coach Roelant Oltmans did a good job of rotating players to keep them hydrated in testing conditions.
The start of the second half again belonged to India as Argentina were mostly confined to defending. The sight of coach Oltmans pumping his fist was enough to understand how much of a relief it was for him too see Kothajit Singh double the lead in the 35th minute. Interestingly, Kothajit's goal was also the first field goal for India in the tournament.
Knowing well that Argentina have a history of troubling India at the big stages in the past, Oltmans was never comfortable with a one-goal lead. "With a couple of goals down, we expected Argentina to press hard but we defended well in the end," said a relieved Oltmans after the game.
Thereafter, Gonzalo Peillat screamed one past skipper PR Sreejesh to reduce the deficit in the 49th minute. Though India did concede a few penalty corners due to some careless clearances by defenders towards the end of the match, but Sreejesh did well to ensure India saw it through.
"This is my job as a captain and goalkeeper to bring about saves like those. It's a goalkeeper's job to keep the team alive," an elated Sreejesh said.
The final hooter saw some cheerful faces in the Indian camp, especially after Monday's defeat to Germany in the dying seconds.
India's next game is against The Netherlands on August 11, and knowing the format where four out of six teams qualify for quarterfinals, one would expect India to try and finish the league stage either second or third in order to avoid their old nemesis Australia in the round of eight.
RESULT
India 2 (Chinglensana Singh 8, Kothajit Singh 35) bt Argentina 1 (Gonzalo Peillat 49)
DID YOU KNOW?
Kothajit Singh's goal in the 35th minute was India's first field goal in the tournament, among both men and women
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