Hockey World Cup: India play 1-1 draw against Spain

The Hague, Netherlands: Indian Men Hockey team played 1-1 draw against Spain in their third match of the Rabobank Hockey World Cup 2014, played at the Kyocera Stadium, The Hague, Netherlands on Thursday. With this draw, both the teams got one point each on the points table.

The Indian team looked composed and started well. Though both the teams had few half chances, but none could convert it. Indian team got their first chance in the 28th minute of the game when they got a penalty stroke which was successfully converted by vice-captain Rupinder Pal Singh and gave India a 1-0 lead.

Indian team maintained the attack and did not allow Spain to score any goal till the 33rd minute of the game. In the 34th minute, Spain’s Roc Oliva scored an equalizer goal for the team through field goal and leveled the score with 1-1.

PR Sreejesh made good saves in the second half. Every time Spain came in attacking, it was well defended by Sreejesh. Indian team had their first penalty corner in the 52nd minute of the game but were not able to covert the same. Spain too got a penalty corner opportunity but Sreejesh did well to save the same.

With only three minutes left, India got another penalty corner opportunity but was unsuccessful in scoring a goal. In the last 60 seconds both the team tried their best to score a goal but none of them succeeded in scoring any goal and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Speaking on the Indian team’s performance, Chief Coach, Mr Terry Walsh said, “The team showed a great temperament and attacked Spain well in the today’s match. The strategy seems to be working for India and I think it was a good match but would have been happy if we would have finished it with a win”.

Speaking on the team’s performance, Captain Sardar Singh said, “The team played a good game and I think it was a great performance. We played well in the first half and attacked really well against Spain. Even in the second half the team played well. Overall it’s really good to have 1 point on the points table and will be a great motivator for the entire team. We will take up the remaining match game by game and am hopeful that we will finish well.”

India will now take on Malaysia on the 7th June 2014 (Saturday) at 1800 hrs in the Rabobank Hockey World Cup 2014.

Results of the Day­-

India 1 – Rupinder Pal Singh (28 min) Vs. Spain 1 - Roc Oliva (34 min).