FIH Pro League: India’s third defeat, Argentina won the first match in the shootout
Despite this defeat, the Indian team is still second in the league with 13 points and on Sunday 20 March, it has a chance to settle the account with Argentina in the second leg match.
By the stipulated time, the score of India and Argentina was 2-2.
Image Credit source: Hockey India
FIH Pro Hockey League (FIH Pro Hockey League) Indian men’s hockey team in (Indian Men’s Hockey Team) Had to yearn for victory in the second consecutive match. Argentina to the Indian team playing its seventh match in the current season. (India vs Argentina) Lost 1-3 in the shootout at the hands of This is the third defeat of the Indian team in seven matches this season. In this tough match, the score between the two teams was tied at 2-2 till the stipulated time, after which the shootout was resorted and here India lost 3 consecutive penalties, while Argentina carried out their shootout cleanly from the spot.
In the first leg match played at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Saturday 19 March, India stopped the match with the help of a last minute goal and then forced Argentina to shootout. The performance of the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Indian team was very poor in the shootout. Only Harmanpreet Singh could score for the team while Abhishek, Gurjant and Sukhjit Singh missed out. Keenan, Tomas Domaine and Lucas Toscani scored for Argentina.
long wait for goal
In this tough competition between the two teams, there was a long wait for the first goal. Dragflicker Harmanpreet created many chances for India but the team could not convert them into goals. On the other hand, Indian goalkeeper Krishna Bahadur Pathak saved many goals. Gurjant Singh scored in the 38th minute and Mandeep Singh scored in the 6th minute for India in the scheduled four-quarter game. On the other hand, Nicolas Acosta (45th) and Nicolas Keenan (52nd minute) scored for Argentina.
Argentina had a chance to take the lead in the early moments, but the first penalty corner could not be converted into a goal. India put the Argentine defense under pressure by playing aggressively in the second quarter and scored three consecutive penalty corners but could not score. The Indians dominated the first two quarters, but neither team got any goals.
Goals in the last two quarters
In the third quarter, Gurjat gave India the lead in the 38th minute. Argentina, however, scored an equalizer in the last minute of the quarter to level the match at 1-1. The result of the match was to be decided in the last quarter match and here Argentina took the first lead. Keenan gave a goal lead in the 52nd minute for the visiting team and India responded in the last minute when it seemed that Argentina was going to win. Mandeep scored an equalizer in the last minute to draw the match into a shootout, where Argentina won.
India ranks second
The win also earned Argentina a bonus point and moved up to fourth place with 11 points from five matches. At the same time, the Indian team remains in second place with 13 points from seven matches. The match of the second leg of this match will be played on Sunday, March 20 in Bhubaneswar itself.
