India wins bronze; as ‘no-goalie’ policy backfires
Sardar Singh’s exceptional ability to swing things his way came in handy for India to churn out a Champagne stuff to defeat Great Britain 3-1 and thus win its fourth Bronze in the Azlan Shah Cup here in Ipoh.
India thus wound off the top-rated Azlan Shah outing with a great display that would give enormous confidence as it moves to London in a couple of months.
With a superb rally after trailing by a goal, India put it across three goals in the next half to earn the right to be in the podium, that too at the cost of a team that was top ranked in the world rating, and the top-seeded here.
There no semblance of things that were to come later, at least it was not evident, when the Indian team trooped out with a credit bag of 0-1 at half time in the 21st Azlan Shah Cup; the transformation the kind of which has been a dream for any coach.
The boys, struggling to finish in the whole tournament, for once, shed off their sluggish approach to the game, and assumed an aggressive posture that unsettled the British who are already withered by the hot and humid conditions here.
Indians had two-day off while the British had to struggle till yesterday to come third in the pool. And it told. When the Indians, strung by the Ashley Jackson’s impeccable goal – his sixth — in the wee seconds of first half, came out in numbers in the second half, the British citadel fell.
It was Sardar Singh – who got the Man of the Match award third time here including today’s – created and crated many moves that landed Indians with a flurry of opportunities to strike, and steam down the British defence.
India cancelled out Ashley’s stunner with a gentle push in by Shivender Singh after set up by Sardar and SK Uthappa, and then individual brilliance of Sardar surprised the British defence, leading to a penalty corner of which Sandeep Singh did not make any mistake.
As India lead 2-1 British coach Jason Lee pulled the goal-keeper out and put an additional player to fortify the attack, a situation that was thankfully made use of by the Indians.
Tushar was all alone when a lose ball landed in the circle; he did not wait for long before putting it across the open and empty goalmouth, and threw his hands up, a situation that gave an impression the art of scoring is as easy as Tushar did.
“We were trailing 1-2. What if we lost by 3-1 or 1-4. Loss is loss. That’s why I pulled the goalie and I have done in the past too”, said Jason Lee, justifying his move that made Indian victory an one-sided affair.
When pointed out that today is the first win for India in four matches against British in the last 30 days, he replied in his inimitable style: “Yes, we are still 3-1”.
With six teams who qualified for the London Olympics in the fray, this edition of the Azlan Shah Cup proved to be an intensely fought one. India’s bronze, and the way it faced the challenge of British was quite encouraging.