India win bronze, Germany hearts, Aus gold

Indervir Grewal

Tribune News Service

Bhubaneswar, December 10 

It was expected to be easy, almost a walkover. In fact, Germany had thought twice before competing. “In the morning, we had a meeting about whether we were going to play for bronze or not,” said captain Mats Grambusch.

Since their semifinal on Saturday, which Germany had played with 13 players, the four-time Olympics champions had lost two more players to the mysterious illness. It meant Germany had no substitutes. 

Even the image of the teams lined up for the national anthems raised sympathy for the Germans. The shrunken team huddled together while the long line of Indian players sang the ‘Jan Gan Man’, with the crowd as their chorus. 

Such contests always ask moral questions, from the players, coaches and audiences. And the mentality of the team with perceived advantage is complicated. “It is difficult, mentally, when you know that you play a team with only 11 players,” said Mark Appel, Germany’s second goalkeeper who had to play in the outfield. “You know that you need to win. You know what I mean…”

Or, in the case of the underdogs, it is simple. “Once we had decided we were going to play, we focused on our strategy,” said Grambusch. Appel said that the strategy was to “keep it simple”. For Stefan Kermas, it was an easy match to coach. Screaming from the sideline, the only thing Kermas reminded the players was to “concentrate”.

“It was easy for me. I spoke only about emotions,” said Kermas. “There are minor adjustments I can make, but mainly it was about the spirit of the team.” The Germans, known for their team spirit and grit, didn’t need anybody’s sympathy, especially the Indian team’s. And they didn’t get any sympathy from the hosts. “Nobody comes easy for a bronze medal match,” said India captain Manpreet Singh. “We just wanted to win the match. We went full-fledged to apply pressure.” 

Harmanpreet Singh said: “Even if they were only 11, they were players who knew how to play structured hockey.” 

The German XI made sure the home crowd got to witness a tight contest. It was an inspiring performance from them. But it was also not India’s best day. The hosts had a listless start. Germany earned the first penalty corner, had the first real scoring opportunity. In the first half, they had 10 shots as opposed to three by the hosts. They earned six penalty corners compared to none for India.

It was as if India were struggling to cope playing in such a situation. In tennis, it is not an uncommon scenario. When one player starts to hurt due to a mid-match injury, the opponent starts to struggle due to a slip in concentration level. 

But in such cases, the player with the upper hand finds his ruthlessness again. It seemed that the first goal in the 21st minute would inspire that level of ruthlessness in India. After Akashdeep Singh’s reverse-stick shot was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Tobias Walter, SV Sunil slapped the rebound in. 

But India never found their stride. India didn’t keep possession well, passes didn’t flow and they didn’t look their speedy selves. Six minutes into the second half, Appel scored against the run of play. Grambusch’s cross went through a bunch of Indian players and reached an unmarked Appel in front of goal. The youngster showed a striker’s poise to lift the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to stun the Indians. The goal woke India up. Though they never found their rhythm, India did what was needed to win – “scored one goal more” than their opponents. After waves of attacks and penalty corners in quick succession, Harmanpreet finally thumped one into the backboard in the 54th minute. “In the end, it is all about winning,” said Harmanpreet.

Admitting that there were many things that India could have done better, he chose to look at the positives. “We wanted to score early. The way they played, it was not a system we are used to. The players were a little bit scared to lose the ball. I am happy with the win because matches like these are not easy. Because it all (11 vs 18) plays in the head,” said Marijne. “The most important thing is the mentality with which we won the match. Of course, we can improve.”

Marijne was impressed by the Germans, saying: “It was a great performance from Germany. They fought really hard.” There was no doubt that it was something inspiring from a bunch of players that had kept Australia at bay for 42 minutes less than 24 hours ago. “You saw yesterday, how Australia struggled. If the world No. 2 side can struggle, the world No. 6 also can,” said coach Marijne. 

Kermas couldn’t have asked for anything more from his players. “Really happy with the performance. This was emotionally important. It showed their team spirit,” Kermas said.

“Look at that smile,” Kermas said, pointing towards Grambusch. “They know what they tried to do yesterday and today.” In contrast, Manpreet and Harmanpreet sat on either side of Marijne, quiet and brooding. They were clearly not happy with their performance. But when reminded that they had just won the HWL Final bronze medal and should smile more, the two, along with their coach, had a hearty laugh.

Australia beat Argentina 2-1, defend title

World champions Australia defeated Olympic champions Argentina 2-1 in a hard-fought summit clash to defend the Hockey World League (HWL) Final crown at the Kalinga Stadium here today. It was a fitting end to the eight-nation tournament which witnessed a keen battle between the world’s best two teams. Eventually, the experience of handling pressure came in handy for the three-time world champions Australia who scored through two penalty corner conversions by Jeremy Hayward (17th) and Blake Govers (58th) to add another crown to their glorious history. Argentina’s lone goal came from the stick of Agustin Bugallo in the 18th minute. PTI

Awards

Best Junior Player: Victor Wegnez (BEL)
Best Goalkeeper: Juan Vivaldi (ARG)
Top Scorer: Loick Luypaert (BEL)
Best Player: Mats Grambusch (GER)

Goalie’s goal

Mark Appel’s bright grin said it all. Appel had last played in the outfield 10 years ago. In Bhubaneswar, a mysterious illness to many of his teammates forced him to shed his pads for the job of a striker. “My job was simple, to run as much as I could and trouble the defenders,” said Appel. But midway through the match, he found himself with the ball in front of the goal. Half-an-hour after the match, the tall 23-year-old still smiled thinking about his equaliser against India. “It was special for me, for Mark, for the team,” said captain Mats Grambusch, whose cross had found Appel. “That’s why the team had come together like that afterwards,” Grambusch said about the team’s tight huddle around Appel. — IG