Dusseldorf: Hosts Germany overpowered the Indian men’s hockey team 2-0 in an action-packed encounter to end their its campaign at the Three-Nations Invitational tournament on a winning note here Tuesday.
Germany had previously won 2-1 against Belgium, drew 2-2 with India and lost 2-5 to Belgium in their opening match. They finished with seven points while India earned four points from their outings with one win and one draw.
Though India began well and won a penalty corner as early as the second minute of the match. However, Harmanpreet Singh, who had scored twice in India’s 3-2 win Monday over Belgium failed to break the German defence.
The Germans showed a lot of variations in midfield play and one such paid off in the seventh minute when Thies Ole Prinz deflected a cross from the right into the Indian goal.
Germany earned a PC seconds before the first hooter, but they could not convert as Akash Chikte came up with a good save.
The second session, however was drab with both sides trying to keep possession of the ball. The game was played at pedestrian pace. The only thing of note happened in the 29th minutes when India got their second penalty corner. However, this time Harmanpreet was off target.
After a goalless third quarter, India continued to stand up to the German challenge, getting closer each time to finding a breakthrough. They got their best chance to restore parity in the 57th minute, but this time Harmanpreet’s fierce hit was deflected by a German defender standing on the goalline.
India pulled out their goalkeeper to play with an extra attacker and Germany took advantage of this situation with Timm Herzbruch scoring seconds before the final hooter.
PTI
