Rajeev kumar
Bhubaneswar, Dec 7: Party ended early for over 7,000 fans gathered here to witness an India win in their second match of the Champions Trophy against Argentina here at the Kalinga Stadium, Sunday. It was Agustin Mazzilli’s strike in the 49th minute which left the India fans devastated while some of them had already started leaving early after witnessing India miss a number of mouth-watering opportunities.
Agustin effortlessly deflected a pass by Argentina skipper Matias Paredes in the Indian ‘D’ as skipper Sardar Singh looked clueless and none of the much avowed Indian defenders were to be seen nearby.
The Los Leones added salt to Indian wounds in the 58th minute again when Joaquin Menini dribbled past the Indian defenders with consummate ease, scoring the fourth goal for his side.
India have the tendency to disappoint in front of a full stadium. They proved this once again Sunday with a 4-2 defeat and all of their much avowed defenders , including much praised goalkeeper PR Sreejesh came cropper against a determined Argentina.
The match started on a positive note as both teams kept the fans excited with their several attempts at taking the lead. However, India managed the first in the last minute of the second quarter when Akashdeep Singh’s hit from the Argentina ‘D’ penetrated the latter’s defence. India could have easily stamped there command from then onwards but their tendency of missing opportunities, which have been a talk of the town in the season of hockey here, had come to the fore from the start itself.
While Argentina hit back in style in a minute to equalise the score with a goal from Lucas Villa, India kept on missing on passes and deflections in Argentina ‘D’. In the second half, India were lucky to find a penalty corner which was successfully converted by Gurjinder singh, bringing the crowd back to life. But there was no stopping Argentina who hit back again in a minute as India’s defenders failed to stop a Juan Lopez’s hit. India’s chances of qualifying for semifinal look bleak now.
