New Delhi: India were clearly disappointed to play in the bottom part of the draw and needed to redeem themselves in front of their fans. They were promptly on the score sheet, first by Ramandeep Singh entering the circle on the right and blasting a shot from a difficult angle through Tomas Rearte in the Argentinian goal, then by Amit Rohidas on penalty-corner. The match had hardly started and Argentina were already looking at a steep road ahead.
They settled their nerves and started pushing forward, forcing two chances on penalty-corners, but both Gonzalo Peillat’s flicks were countered. Play stayed confined in midfield until the 31st minute when Ramandeep Singh cut through the Argentinian defense and once again beat Tomas Rearte from an impossible angle nearly on the backline, much to the pleasure of the local fans.
Argentina pulled one goal back early after the break by Lucas Martinez, but India re-established their 3-goal lead by Gurjinder Singh with a low flick on penalty-corner. With time passing, an Argentinian come-back seemed unlikely and the Indians put on some showmanship for the crowd. They created plenty of chances, and hit the crossbar, but it was Argentina who scored next when Lautaro Diaz recovered well from a bobbled penalty-corner.
The Indian win set-up an always highly anticipated clash between Pakistan and India, although fans on both sides of the border would have preferred the match to be for better ranking than 9th place… As for Argentina, they can only be disappointed to play for 11th place, when they had never finished lower than seventh in eight previous Junior World Cup appearances.
Baljeet Singh, Coach of Indian team said, “Today we played a good match. Ramandeep played well and has come back in form. In the league matches we conceded early goals which has affected the overall performance of the team. We are looking forward to our match against Pakistan. We will aim to finish at 9th position. I am sure the crowd will enjoy the match.”
Carlos Geneyro, coach of the Argentina team said, “India began the game very well. Our defence was not good and we made too many opportunities. This gave India many opportunities that they converted into goals. We needed to stay in the game. We tried to improve in the second half when our counter attack was good but that was not enough. Our next match is against South Africa and we will try to enjoy the last game.”
