ET 2009: India Beat Belgium 2-0 To Clinch Series
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India beat Belgium 2-0 in the third test to clinch the Series
India beat Belgium 2-0 in the final Test at Braxgata, Boom to clinch the three match series 2-1.
India who lost the opener on Tuesday, but won the second Test 4-3, were in command of the proceedings today and scored once in each half through Arjun Halappa in the31st and Dhananjay Mahadik in the 60th minute.
The Indian midfield sparkled with swift rotations and overlaps which bewildered the Belgians. Gurbaj Singh, Sardar Singh, Mahadik and Prabodh Tirkey kept a steady flow of passes amongst themselves and frequently stepped up the pace to set up attackers Rajpal Singh, SV Sunil, Tushar Khandker and Shivendra Singh.
India made their intentions amply clear with onslaughts from the start of play as the forwards penetrated in Belgium’s danger zone repeatedly.
They were awarded their first penalty corner in the 5th minute when the ball was carried in the circle, but goalkeeper Vincent foiled Sandeep Singh’s flick.
India got the better of the Red Lions with a display of well manouevered skills and position interchanges.
They took the lead through a classic foray from the left flank where Khandker and Prabhjot moved in tandem at the baseline to set up Halappa who tapped past the hopelessly unbalanced Vincent in the 31st minute.
Belgium got two penalty corners before the break but Vikram Pillay rushed out to abort the first one, while Adrian D’souza gloved away the second.
The second half saw the Indians again in full steam as their midfield not only denied Belgium space but built effective turnovers.
India scored their second goal in the 60th minute from a penalty corner as Sandeep pushed the ball to Mahadik after a u-turn atop the circle. The 26 year old Army man from Bangalore unleashed an accurate low flick to the goalkeepers right to ensure victory.
India flew later today to Barcelona to begin the third leg of their Europe tour with a three test series at Terassa against world number four Spain.
Courtesy: Hockey India Media Release
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its good that v finally won a series in this european tour….England tourney was pathetic….i jus pray n hope that v win in spain and holland…. that’ ll be something….plus m really unhappy wid tactics of Brasa….hw can we play european style….just get da latest technology and systems in place…. v dont need to change the style. Y dont we get that…Thats what Gerard Rach wantd…. n v r on this important tour wid jus 1 defender…how stupid…..so i just hope….we win somehow… I want Brasa to be sacked…harindra singh was good
Good to see us winning a series. Have to disagree with Bhavesh about sacking Brasa. He needs to be given a 2-3 year contract. No point in going back to Harendra or any other clueless Indian coaches as our results over 34+ years have been awful. Brasa has brought about sensible, common sense changes that Indian coaches are unable to make ( rolling substitutions, playing a different formation, inter-changing of positions). The 1st test thrashing was shocking though.If our selections were sensible (more quick defenders and fewer forwards)maybe we could genuinely improve.
You have no clue mate- the hockey game has changed and its politics which is killing it and the hockey style is all changed and we have to learn from western countries how they play the game.
Responding to Mr. Ajeet and Mr.Suneet Jaitely. firstly i dont understand why we always run after foreign coaches.. I totaly agree that hockey has changed , I am 20 years old and i know how hockey demands quickness and versitality which is present in the european teams….trust me, with our style and with organised team structure(including technicians and the doctors and psychologists etc..) we can be in the top 3 teams in the world…. i have to add that we have to work on our defense, rolling subsitutions and quick and short passing… in rolling subsitution, it is important to know that for us to work that out, all we need is to develop few players hu can play all positions but still being in the our style of playing…… I appreciate the way teams like austrailia and spain have developed…. we can learn a lot from them…but that doesnt mean that we literaly follow them… thats wat brasa wants to do… u guys can see it for yourself in coming times….no offense to anyone, these are just my opinions..