India hockey team skipper and seasoned goalkeeper proud of boys for putting European powerhouse Germany on the back foot in their own backyard
India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh tries to tackle Germany’s Constantin Staib during an international friendly in Krefeld near Dusseldorf recently
There was a time when Indian hockey teams struggled against much faster and physically stronger European powerhouses. The Indians occasionally, even employed defensive techniques to slow down the proceedings against their speedy opponents.
However, if the first impressions of India’s ongoing European tour are any indication, the tables seem to have turned.
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Impressive win
After an impressive 6-1 win over four-time Olympic gold medallists and two-time world champions Germany in their own backyard on February 28, the Indians were held 1-1 by the hosts on Tuesday (March 2) in Krefeld, near Dusseldorf.
PR Sreejesh
Skipper and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh said that the Germans were caught off-guard by Team India’s performance in the opening friendly fixture.
“In the first game, we began gradually and then picked up pace. We were very excited to play our first match after the lengthy Coronavirus-forced break [India had last played a competitive match on February 22 last year against Australia in the Pro League in Bhubaneswar] but it didn’t seem like we were playing after long. We controlled the proceedings well and converted most of our chances. They made a lot of mistakes and we punished them for it with free-flowing attacks and counter-attacks. We played a better game and the scoreline was most satisfying,” Sreejesh told mid-day on Friday.
World No. 4 India’s thumping win forced No. 6 Germany to change their strategy in the second match.
Defensive Germans
“In the second game, Germany changed their style and played a more defensive game. They held on to the ball more instead of running the risk of losing possession to us. They stretched out their field of play. That was a massive difference from the first game because by focusing on ball possession, they reduced their mistakes and did not give us a chance to launch many attacks. Consequently, we got fewer opportunities to score and so the draw,” explained Sreejesh, adding that the Germans resorted to close man-to-man marking to ensure the speedy Indian forwards didn’t slip away from them.
India will play the remaining two matches of the tour in Antwerp, Belgium, on March 6 and 8 against Great Britain before returning home.
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