Buenos Aires: India’s women’s team forced a last gasp 1-1 draw against Argentina Juniors here on Tuesday, thanks to captain Rani Rampal’s goal with two minutes remaining
It was a second successive draw by the tourists after a 2-2 scoreline against the Argentina Juniors in their opener.
“Today the quality of play was better and that’s why we are here – to improve in every match. Today players got the chance to show their best and these are players who normally don’t get a chance to make the 18-member squad so it’s good they are able to get international exposure. It is also good for the core group that we are getting to try more players and see how different combinations work,” expressed Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.
India began in an attacking mode, displaying speed and precision in rotating the ball and a nose for potential openings in the striking circle. The pressure they exerted fetched them a penalty corner in the very first minute but Gurjit Kaur’s power-packed drag-flick was dealt with by the goalkeeper.
The visitors forced another penalty corner in the fifth minute but Deep Grace Ekka’s essay went wide.
The home side, however, wrested the initiative, forcing three penalty corners in the ninth, 11th and 13th minutes and found the net to take the lead. India created opportunities in the second and third quarter thanks to frequent circle penetrations but the Argentine defence stood firm.
Four more penalty corners came India’s way in the 37th, 43rd, 48th and 58th minutes before the much-sought equalizer arrived – thanks to a precise and powerful injection by Navneet Kaur which set up Rani to score.
“We created enough opportunities to score more and this is an area we need to keep working on. We have a break of two days before our next game against the Argentina B team and we look forward to the challenge,” stated Marijne.
India play Argentina B on 23rd January at 0230 hours IST.