India vs Spain battle promises thrills & chills

Tribune News Service

Indervir Grewal

Rourkela, January 12

It is a rivalry that has little historic relevance, yet it has delivered arguably the most thrilling contests in the last year from the Indian fans’ perspective.

In less than 10 months’ time, India and Spain have produced four rollercoaster games over two seasons of the Pro League. Charged by a combative spirit and filled with masterful displays of individual skills, the games were seesawing tactical battles.

India and Spain will continue their simmering rivalry at the World Cup as they look to begin their campaigns with a win tomorrow.

Having played such close games, it will be difficult to choose between the two teams. Despite being lower-ranked, Spain have proved to be a tricky side for India. In four games, India managed to beat Spain only once in regulation time, while the European side took two outright victories.

In fact, Spain have quickly risen up the ranks since Max Caldas took over as coach after the Tokyo Olympics. While Spain always had the fighting spirit, they have become more disciplined in defence and unpredictable in attack under Caldas.

Caldas has rightfully gained the reputation of being a crafty strategist, with his teams known for being tactically astute. After leading the Netherlands women’s team to the Olympics gold in 2012, he guided the men to the World Cup final, which they lost in the shootout, in 2018. It was Caldas’ team that broke the Indian hearts with a 2-1 victory in the quarterfinals after a fiery battle that was as much physical as it was tactical.

Incidentally, current India coach Graham Reid was part of Caldas’ team of coaches back in 2018. No one else knows better how tricky it can be to deal with Caldas’ teams. In their Pro League games, India couldn’t find their rhythm, struggling to cope with Spain’s stop-start game as the European side scored anytime India’s focus wavered. But whenever India hit their stride, they ran over Spain. With the high likeliness of the stadium filling up to the rafters, Spain would be hoping that the crowd support doesn’t charge up the home team. More importantly, Caldas would be crossing his fingers that his relatively young team would not cave in because of the daunting environment. No wonder, then, that he has resorted to mind games, saying that crowd support could also put pressure on the home team.

India captain Harmanpreet Singh said the players have discussed the benefits as well as the pressures of playing in front of big crowds. “The crowd will support us till the end, and that helps us. But it is very important to focus on your own individual duties till the final hooter,” Harmanpreet said.

1 In four games, India managed to beat Spain only once in regulation time, while the European side took two outright victories

1 India is the first country to host back-to-back editions of the FIH Men’s World Cup

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