India was cruising along for a famous victory but the unforgiving Red Lions roared in the dying moments of the match to snatch a 1-1 draw in the Breda Champions Trophy. India was dominant in the first half, but was rendered ineffective by the fighting Belgians after lemon time. However, their scoreboard did not move till the last minute thanks to some astonishing saves by reliable Indian goalie PR Sreeesh.
After an attacking first half, India plunged into defensive mode which did not help matters improve.
India conceded nine penalty corners in the second half of which their pivot Loick Luypaert struck, placing the ball to the right of inform goalie Sreejesh. It was only time the ultimate Man of the Match was beaten despite Belgium attack coming in troves. His saves were amazing, and was seen motivating the team in the entire duration with his high pitch voice.
All the parameters were pointing to Indian win in the first half, but everything changed after the lemon time. Number of PCs, circle entries, shot at goals tripled for the Red Lions in the dominating spell.
Harmanpreet Singh’s lightening of a drag flick got bounced into the cage after blocked by Belgium goalie in the 12th minute. That was the lone reward for hardworking and better looking India till half time.
Fed by Sardar Singh from deep, Sunil sprinted his best to etner the circle, but his last push was weak for the goalkeeper to ward off it nonchalantly.
Moments before Sunil’s exploit, Mandeep Singh got a gem of a pass inside circle, dribbled along back line, and outwitted two markers only to see his flick into the empty net got richotted off the far post. It was a saddening moment for the entire Indian team.
India had won only four matches against Belgium in the last 21 encounters. Today’s draw was the third since 2011.