Colts up against tricky England

Indervir Grewal

Tribune News service

Lucknow, December 9

India play their hardest match of the pool stage as they take on familiar foes England in their second match of the junior hockey World Cup here tomorrow.

After thrashing Canada in the opener, India will go into the match high on confidence; and apart from a quarterfinal berth at stake, a win will also help them top their pool.

But looking at recent history, there is nothing between the two teams. Since the last junior World Cup, India and England met in back-to-back finals of the Sultan of Johor Cup; while India won 2-1 in 2014, England won 4-3 in a shootout the next year. Earlier this year, the two played four matches in England, both winning two matches each.

England coach Jon Bleby had said after his team’s 4-2 win over South Africa yesterday that he was concerned about the speed at which India played. India coach Harendra Singh has repeatedly said that they wouldn’t get ahead of themselves, taking it one match at a time, and focus on their own game rather than the opponents.

Argentina held, Germany through 

Argentina started their campaign with a slight stumble as they were held to a 1-1 draw by minnows Austria, while European powerhouses Germany and the Netherlands registered contrasting wins on the second day.

Argentina paid for a slow start as a determined Austrian team, coached by Cedric D’Souza, made a late comeback with a 63rd minute equaliser by Oliver Binder after Argentina had taken the lead through Tomas Domene in the 47th minute.

Two-time defending champions Germany did just enough to edge out New Zealand 2-1 and qualify for the quarterfinals with six points from two matches. Coach Valentin Altenburg was happy with the result but nowhere close to satisfied about his team’s performance, calling it scrappy and disjointed. The Kiwis took the lead in the fourth minute through a Sam Lane drag-flick goal. The Germans fought back with goals from Timm Herzbruch (24th) and Anton Boeckel (51th).

The Dutchman gave a rude welcome to late-entrants Malaysia with a 7-2 thrashing.