Bhubaneswar: Indians’ 43-year wait for at least a semifinal qualification at the World Cup has now been extended a minimum of four more years as the Netherlands made it to the last four stage of the Men’s Hockey World Cup after edging out a fighting India 2-1 in a high voltage quarterfinal at the Kalinga Stadium here Thursday.
Thierry Brinkman (14th) and Van der Weerden Mink struck for the Dutch while Akashdeep Singh (11th) got one back for the hosts. The visitors earned four penalty corners and converted one through Mink. India got two penalty corners and could score only once through Akashdeep.
India started attacking right from the word go with the full capacity crowd backing them with a deafening roar. Akashdeep moved from the left and tried to move up but couldn’t clear the Dutch lines.
Lalit Upadhyay cut in from the left but couldn’t find anybody. Then Mandeep Singh’s long ball found a Dutch player and he too can’t control the ball. Manpreet Singh found Surender Kumar and the duo combined well to enter the Dutch circle but failed to do anything.
Netherlands got the ball back and Seve van Ass couldn’t latch on to the cross in the Indian circle. India continued to press hard, and in the process got their first penalty corner in the 11th minute. Harmanpreet Singh flicked and Akashdeep Singh deflected to score the first goal for the Men in Blue much to the delight of a boisterous crowd.
De Gues pushed one back from the baseline, but the Dutch failed to find the back of the net. Dutch retaliated and restored parity in the 14th minute when Thierry Brinkman found the back of the net through a fierce hit. The first quarter was riveting with a 1-1 scoreline and the atmosphere was superbly charged.
Netherlands continued with their momentum at the start of the second quarter. India got the ball back and Simranjeet Singh’s hit was saved by De Mol. India got a free hit, but the Netherland’s defence was too good to neutralise it. Brinkman tried to advance from the left and Varun Kumar did exceedingly well to intercept.
Indians got a golden chance in the 24th minute but failed to get it right at the goalmouth. Manpreet got a free hit but no damage was done. Harmanpreet mopped up a couple of poor passes from the Indians. De Voogd got a green card for colliding with Surender.
Akashdeep also failed to get a shot at the goal. The second quarter was barren and the match ended 1-1 after the end of first half. There was little to choose between both the teams.
The Dutch earned their first PC in the very first minute of the third quarter but squandered the opportunity as Van der Weerden failed to get it right. Tempers flared at the Kalinga Stadium as Dutch earned their second penalty corner in the 35th minute. They got another one immediately as Amit Rohidas ran out early. But it was discarded after Amit went for a video referral.
Dilpreet Singh lunged but couldn’t reach for a cross from Lalit. Dutch came back well and Thijs van Dam missed a shitter. Indian fought back to have a shot at the goal, but the ball hit Nilakantha Sharma’s foot and India missed a golden chance. The third quarter also finished goalless.
The match was all set for an exciting finish. De Voogd found the back of the net but the goal was disallowed. Netherlands pressed hard and got their third penalty corner in the 49th minute through Jeoren Hertberger. Then there was a retake of the PC and Van der Weeden Mink duly converted it in the 50th minute to double the Dutch lead.
India came back strongly to earn their second penalty corner of the match in the 55th minute but missed the equaliser. The Netherlands had their fourth PC in the 58th minute, but Indian defenders came in their way. The Indians tried desperately to restore parity, but it was too little and too late.
