The outcome of India's second league match of the Rio Olympics against Germany yesterday was a major heartbreak &mdash; conceding a goal with three seconds left on the clock, to lose 1-2 was painful.
<img title="A distraught India skipper and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh following his team's 1-2 defeat to Germany at the Olympic Hockey Centre in Rio de Janeiro yesterday. Pic/AFP" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2016/aug/9PR-Sreejesh-1.jpg" alt="A distraught India skipper and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh following his team's 1-2 defeat to Germany at the Olympic Hockey Centre in Rio de Janeiro yesterday. Pic/AFP" /> A distraught India skipper and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh following his team's 1-2 defeat to Germany at the Olympic Hockey Centre in Rio de Janeiro yesterday. Pic/AFP
I remember the last time India conceded such a heart-breaking last-gasp goal in a major tournament was at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. With a little under two minutes to go, India were leading 1-0 against Poland and were on the path to the semi-finals. Just then a cross came in from the left and was deflected in off the narrowest of angles as Poland equalised and put India out of semi-final contention.
Yesterday saw history repeat itself. The ball entered the circle through a host of Indian defenders and with the slightest of deflections, the Germans found the back of the net with exactly 3.1 seconds to go.
It was a close game and India did not deserve to lose. Nikkin Thimmiah and Akashdeep Singh missed some half chances from close range. In such tight matches, these chances are to be converted.
The talk after the game against Ireland was that India could not afford to concede short corners against Germany. They stuck to their plan and conceded just one penalty corner. Goalkeeper and skipper PR Sreejesh was not too busy. In fact, German 'keeper Nicolas Jacobi was tested several times and brought up some crucial saves.
Defender V Raghunath was impressive yesterday with his accurate passes. This burly defender did not impress me till a few years back because he always got into trouble for rough tackling. But he has improved his game and hasn't solely relied on his drag-flicks to find a place in the playing 11, which most full backs need to understand.
SV Sunil was at his best yesterday and made several inroads into the rival defence. One such move fetched the Indians a short corner and Rupinderpal Singh equalised. All is not lost despite this defeat. It was a spirited effort against the defending champs. India must now plan their next move against Argentina today.
The writer was a member of India's 1980 Moscow Olympics gold medal-winning hockey team

India's 1-2 defeat to Germany in yesterday's second league match of the Rio Olympics&nbsp;was no disgrace, writes Mervyn Fernadis

Rio 2016: Indian hockey team maybe beaten but not broken

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Rio 2016: Indian hockey team maybe beaten but not broken

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