India did almost everything Craig Fulton asked for. Before the pushback, the chief coach hoped his players would be more efficient in the attacking third, which they weren’t in the opening two matches of the current leg of the Pro League. At half-time, he demanded a little better defensive show.
By full-time, Fulton left the field grinning. It wasn’t a win. But less than 48 hours after a 4-1 drubbing against Belgium, India responded by holding the Olympic champions to a 2-2 draw, before missing out on a bonus point in the penalty shootout.
India had two very well-taken field goals, created – but failed to convert – penalty corners, at times displayed the same old mistakes but also showcased something different, if not new: intent inside Belgium’s ‘D’. Advertisement For far too long, India’s strikers have been guilty of being shy of taking a shot at goal. They’d miss-trap, look for a foot or simply look for a teammate to pass the ball – do everything but shoot.
On Saturday, they were brave and creative, taking minimum touches to pass the ball, smartly using deflections and being unafraid to have a go at goal. It resulted in two beautiful field goals. The first came in the 11th minute.
Hardik Singh played a floating pass over the midfield that found Sukhjeet Singh at the byline. Sukhjeet controlled it well and instead of taking an ambitious reverse hit, which could have been blocked by the Belgian goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch, he turned and swerved past a defe.