India stun Netherlands, first time in 18 years

It was a fast but erratic game as both teams attacked in turns. Netherlands, surprisingly, made too many mistakes to give away the ball. India played the possession game, rotating the ball, in the first half.

But as the time passed, the game opened up. In the 33rd minute, however, India drew the first blood, with Gurjinder Singh firing in a diagonal ball from the right and SV Sunil pulling off a highly improbable deflection. He ran out to the right with his back to the ball and flicked it towards his left into the near post. So improbable was the touch that the Dutch asked for a video referral, but the goal stood.

However, within three minutes, India gave away a soft penalty corner. Mink van der Weerden's put the ball in the right corner.

India went ahead again in the 47th minute. Danish Mujtaba deflected Gurbaj Singh's cross towards the goal, the goalkeeper kicked it back to Mujtaba who was lying on the ground. Another weak effort followed, another weak clearance, the ball rolled to Manpreet Singh, and he slammed it in. 

With the Netherlands pushing for a goal, the game opened up and India got many chances on the counter. One such attack led to a penalty corner. Rupinderpal stepped up and, with his low drag-flick to the right, made it 3-1 in the 49th minute. 

The crowd must have left the stadium hoarse, for the non-stop shouts of “India, India” reverberated in the stadium for the remaining 11 minutes”. They fell silent only once when van der Weerden converted a penalty corner in the 58th minute. 

Was India going to falter again in the end? For two minutes, the Indians fought like their lives depended on it. High on emotions, the Indians forgot about structure or tactics. Netherlands had their chances but India held on. In the end it wasn't pretty but it worked.   

  

 

England found a late equaliser to draw 1-1 with Belgium and finish on top of the pool. In another  match, Australia defeated Pakistan 3-0.