The Indian men's hockey team were handed their second loss of the Pro League by lower-ranked Spain at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. Although rookie Abhishek put India in the lead early on, it was Max Caldas-coached Spain who won 5-3 in the end.
At half-time, Spain were leading 3-2 but after a goalless third quarter, it was India who looked the better of the two teams. Eventually, even as Spain tried to hold them back, India equalised through debutant Sukhjeet Singh six minutes into the fourth quarter.
But unlike Saturday, India couldn't make another memorable comeback and it was Spain who scored two late goals, both from the penalty corners, to earn their first win of the tournament.
Pepe Cunill scored the first one in the 54th minute. Then as India went all out for the equaliser and replaced their goalkeeper with a field player, Marc Miralles scored the second.
Already under pressure after their defeat against France, coach Graham Reid is sure to come under a lot of scrutiny post this loss. While their defence was leaky, their forward line also failed to live up to the expectation. Compared to 34 circle penetrations on Saturday, it was only 22 on Sunday. Also, the number of PCs won went down from 6 to 3, of which India converted just one.
However, they have two weeks to work on their mistakes before they play Germany in their next Pro League encounter.
Earlier, the match began at a blistering pace, and it was Abhishek who put India in the lead with a lovely solo goal in the sixth minute. He ran down the baseline inside the D past the defenders, cut in near the goal and flicked it past the diving Spanish goalkeeper.
But Spain got right back into the game with two quick goals in the 14th minute. First Pau Cunill scored from the PC to equalise, then seconds later Joan Tarres put Spain in the lead.
A minute later, India had a chance to equalise but Harmanpreet Singh failed to convert India's first PC and it was Spain who went 3-1 up nine minutes into the second quarter. It was Spain's fourth PC and Pau slammed it into the top of the net, giving PR Sreejesh no chance to save. However, three minutes later, the hosts reduced the lead as Harmanpreet converted India's second PC.
The third quarter saw India up the tempo, and they were rewarded almost immediately as Mandeep Mor won India's third PC, but this time Harmanpreet was unable to convert it. As the clock ticked away, they kept looking for the equaliser, but Spain defended tooth and nail to hold onto the lead.
India, however, broke down the Spanish defence six minutes into the fourth quarter as debutant Sukhjeet Singh scored. Jaskaran Singh ran down the baseline on the right and pushed it to Sukhjeet past the diving goalkeeper and the debutant made no mistake of putting it into an open goal.
Spain, though, had the final laugh as they scored two goals in the last quarter to earn a memorable win against the hosts.
