– By K.V. Venugopal
JR WC Hockey at Bhubaneswar
Argentina deservingly won the trophy when they accounted for Germany in the recent Junior World Cup at Bhubaneswar. Right from the world goes, the winners attacked the oppositition citadel with clarity and precision that resulted in two goals in the first half. Undaunted by the reverse, the losers fought hard to restore parity in the second half, but hardly had the cheers died down, Argentinians surged ahead with their third goal. The Germans made an all out attempt to neutralise at the fag end of the game, but all their penalty corner attempts went in vain. Taking advantage of their plight, as the goalkeeper himself left the increase to take the high voltage game to the extra-time, the Argentinians in a brilliant counter-attack sounded the board and ensured that they won by four goals to two. The match reminded the spectators and the viewers a replica of the football world cup between the two teams in 2014, in which the Germany won by a solitary goal. Argentina, however, proved its mettle with its victory in hockey.
The defending champions India played well, but unfortunately, had to lose in the semi-finals and in the play-offs when Germany and France defeated them by a margin of 4-2 and 3-1 respectively. The team, unlike in 2016, did not focus on the well-drilled defence. It was a do-or-die battle for the Indian team, as though, they fought hard to reduce the margin after the Germans scored two quick goals, it was indeed a tall order for them and by the time they realised the folly of letting their opponent in, the damage was already done after the Germans taking advantage of the loophole in their defence scored two more goals and qualified for the finals, although the home team scored a consolation goals when the match was all over, bar shouting.
Tokyo Olympics: India Expected Bronze
Like in Tokyo Olympics a few months ago, India was expected to win the bronze, but they squandered in by letting the France marauding both their wings and penetrating into the penalty circle often. It was a matter of time, before the French team took the lead before they surged ahead with two more goals when India was caught napping on the wrong-in. India had to remain contend with a goal when the referee was on the verge of blowing the final whistle. The home team, not only lacked in killer-instincts, compared to their opponents, but their criss-cross passes and drab-flickers went in vain. The half-backs were all at sea and the team did not function like a well-oiled machine and failed tincoordinating their defence with offence. The team also adopted a negative strategy and was relying on penalty corners for conversion to a large extent than of attempting field-goals.
What Happened with Other Countries
On the contrary, Germany, Argentina, France and Belgium excelled in marshalling their resources wonderfully well and they were not found wanting in their bench strength. Though Argentina struggled in their league match against Egypt with their inept display as their defence and the goalkeeper allowed too much elbow for the opponent team, they sorted out their shortcomings in the latter part of the event. For instance, against France they pulverised their opponent with their array of defence-splitting passes, and made the French defence caught on the wrong-foot. Before France could realise the magic of the fleeted-footed Argentinians with their effective stick-work in an orchestrated manner, the winner of the tournament made a merry of their work with the winning goal. However, it was quite unfortunate that the both the teams indulged in fisticuffs, which could have been averted.
Germany, on the other hand, had almost lost their quarter-final against Spain, but with a minute to go, the team made a comeback by equalising at the stroke of the final whistle. Embolded by its success at full time, the Germans capitalised on the weakness of the rival goal keeper in the shoot-out to pounce on four goals with clinical precision, whereas Spain rued their missed chances. Pakistan disappointed the connoisseurs of the game, much against the expectation when the team did not jell as a unit and petered out to counter-attacks by its opponents. The much expected India-Pakistan final did not materialise, but the Indian coach Reid is happy over the performance of his team and said that India performed better than what he expected and it is sure of improving its performance in the coming Commonwealth and Asian Games.
Odisha Government and Navin Patnaik’s Work
Overall, the Odisha government and its chief minister, Navin Patnaik needs to be lauded for organising a wonderful show. The state government had promised after India’s impressive performance at Tokyo Olympics that his government would leave no stone unturned to ensure that Indian hockey remain on their agenda for not less than another decade or so. Importantly, the reverred chief minister ensured there were more than adequate sponsors for the event and it was marketed to the satisfaction of the people having a stake in the game.
It was not surprising that there was a huge applause to Patnaik when the trophy was handed over to worthy winners. Is it not time for other states to emulate Odisha and its chief minister for improving the prospects of Hockey, which was once our national game. The people connected with the game had promised to render a maximum asssitance to the players after the Tokyo Olympics, but it seems, the willingness is only on paper, as the euphoria dies down after some time.
