The Tribune: Backed by Brazil, India beat Argentina
A day after heartbreaking loss to Germany, India regroup to post their second win
By Rohit Mahajan
Sports Editor, The Tribune
“Ole, Ole, Ole! India, India,” these shouts came from a bunch of Brazilian supporters of India. There were very few Indian fans at the hockey venue, and they didn’t have the songs and chants and the noise the larger bunch of Argentinean fans had.
The Brazilians have an intense sporting rivalry with Argentina. Last night at the tennis venue, fans from the two countries actually came to blows, and security had to rush in to get things under control. Brazil and Argentina share much, and this includes a lot of bad blood.
Brazilian fans are passionate and they’re furiously partisan. The after-effects of last night’s bust-up were felt today. At the hockey arena today, the national anthems of India and Argentina were played. A raucous bunch of Brazilians, carrying their own country’s flag, cheered the Indian anthem and booed after the Argentine anthem. They then proceeded to boo each time the ball was touched by an Argentine player. They cheered wildly when the ball came to the Indians, and they went mad with joy when India went ahead. “No Argentina!” said Markus, a Brazilian fan waving his own country’s flag even as he chanted: “Ole India!”
On the other side of the pitch, there were the Argentine fans. Some of them made rude, obscene gestures at the Brazilians on the opposite stands. One of them, clearly drunk, jumped up and down and shouted constantly: “Chupa Brazil, Chupa Brazil!!” This translates to “Brazil sucks!”
Brazil’s India-loving fans too weren’t shy about jeering the Argentines, and they uttered words that can’t be published in a family newspaper.
India win 2-1
There was lesser drama on the pitch, at least in the first three quarters. India were 2-0 up after 45 minutes, in total control. Then, in the fourth quarter, Argentina went out all to find the equaliser.
Yesterday, India were 1-1 with Germany until almost the very end, and were only beaten by a last-gasp goal by the Germans. That’s the sort of heartbreak Indian fans dread every time India are leading or holding a bigger and more powerful team.
Today, to begin with, India dominated possession and didn’t allow Argentina to create a dangerous move, even though India too didn’t make any serious move. India defended solidly against a team that plays very physical hockey; India were penalised with three green cards, two of them in the first quarter. But Argentina didn’t get a single penalty corner in the first three quarters. In the last quarter, Argentina got five penalty corners, and captain PR Sreejesh was solid in front of the goal. India defended robustly.
India converted on their second penalty corner opportunity, Chinglensana Singh delaying his shot just a bit before smashing the ball in. A second Manipuri in the team, Kothajit Singh, doubled the lead when he latched on to a loose ball and scored.
In the fourth quarter, Argentina pressed all their men forward, and they scored when Gonzalo Peillat got his drag-flick working.
Now, India didn’t panic. In the past, they’ve gone into their shell at such times, become too defence-minded. Today, right at the end, coach Roelant Oltmans sent in three attackers, withdrawing men from the defence. The idea was to attack and scare Argentina, rather than becoming defensive and jittery.
“Gradually, our team is improving, handling tough situations better,” Sreejesh later said. “The Argentines came hard at us. We conceded one goal, but we defended very well towards the end, so I’m very happy.”
Equally happy were the Argentina-hating Brazilians in the stands.
Results: India 2 (Chinglensana 8′, Kothajit 35′) bt Argentina 1 (Peillat)
Germany 3 bt Ireland 2
Netherlands 7 bt Canada 0
Spain 3 bt New Zealand 2