Junior World Cup: Flawed India looked out of their depth on big stage

Tribune News Service

Indervir Grewal

Chandigarh, December 11

India’s campaign at the women’s Junior World Cup started with a 12-0 hammering of Canada — just the sort of momentum-building victory the Asian champions would have hoped for.

Yet, what began with a bang quickly fizzled out as India —less than two years after finishing fourth in the tournament — failed to cross even the first hurdle. India did end the tournament with three wins in a row to finish ninth, but when it mattered the most — in the pool matches against European championships finalists Germany and Belgium — they came up short.

There wasn’t too much to read into India’s win against Canada, who finished with the wooden spoon for the second time in a row. The result, though, would have filled the players with confidence, which they carried into their next game.

Architects of own downfall

India took a 2-0 lead against Germany within the first 14 minutes. Germany, visibly stunned after their 0-6 loss to Belgium a day earlier, had made a slow start. However, India let that momentum slip away — partly because Germany started to find their feet, and partly because of their own mistakes.

For all their dominance in the first quarter — with plenty of scoring chances, including five in the first minute — India had just two goals to show for it. And when a desperate Germany pressed high at the start of the second quarter, India crumbled. Unable to “keep possession”, India “lost too many balls in our half to give away the momentum”, a frustrated coach Tushar Khandker said at halftime.

The errors led to Germany equalising, with two goals coming in the space of four minutes. India did get the momentum back as Germany, who also had a player shown the green card, started to tire in a hectic second quarter. India regained their lead but were again guilty of wasting their chances.

Not making it count when they had the momentum was a reason for India’s downfall. India, who converted just two of their 10 penalty corners, had 14 shots on target compared to Germany’s eight.

A recharged Germany again started with an aggressive press in the second half, and got two quick goals from defensive errors. In fact, all of Germany’s goals came after India gifted away possession in their own half.

Even when chasing the game, India could not control the ball, denoted by their overall possession of 43 per cent; and when they pushed high and forced the German defence into making errors, India wasted the counterattacking opportunities. India made things tougher for themselves when a player was yellow-carded in the final quarter.

Completely outplayed

All the shortcomings that led to India’s loss against Germany were highlighted even more in their next game. The reigning Asia Cup winners seemed out of their depth playing against Belgium — who came into the tournament with title aspirations and ended up finishing third for their first-ever World Cup medal.

Despite the 2-3 defeat, India were completely outplayed by Belgium. In a lop-sided first half, India had just 42 per cent possession, earned one penalty corner and had no shot on target. Belgium were assured in possession, and their defensive press was so effective that India barely got out of their own half, and had just four circle entries.

Even when Belgium retreated after taking a 2-0 lead, India could not create any real opportunities. It was only after a Belgian player was yellow-carded, India managed to equalise; but Belgium quickly went ahead again, unsurprisingly after stealing possession inside the Indian defensive third.

Tactical immaturity

In both the games, India’s players were guilty of holding on to the ball for far too long, which led to countless turnovers. It not only resulted in dangerous counterattacks, but also led to promising moves coming to nothing; and with it grew frustration and nervousness.

In general, India looked short of ideas in attack. Too often, they were slow in the transition from defence to attack. There were too many wayward passes, and most of the times they ended up hitting hopeful balls into the circle. This miscommunication can also be explained by the lack of proper positioning from the players.

India’s losses highlighted not only their technical weaknesses but also their tactical immaturity, which stem from the lack of a uniform training system from the grassroots up to the national team level.

In both the matches, the Indian coaches could be heard shouting instructions like “press high” or “hurry up” or “move the ball faster” from the sideline. But even as the players tried to show more urgency, their game lacked planning and composure.

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