‘This will go down to the last second’

India captain Harmanpreet Singh (extreme right) celebrates a goal with teammates during their quarter-final win over Great Britain in Colombes, France, on Sunday. Pic/PTI

Having displayed nerves of steel to be within touching distance of a second successive Olympic medal, the Indian hockey team will face familiar foe and reigning world champion Germany in the semi-final on Tuesday, hoping to better the bronze that it claimed in the Tokyo edition.

Paris provides them a great opportunity to make history. A semi-final win will ensure a silver medal for India, something they last won in the 1960 Rome edition.

Amit Rohidas

Germany World No. 4

Going by world ranking and recent head-to-head record, there is hardly any difference between the current world champions and four-time Olympic gold medallists Germany from India. While Germany are World No. 4, the Indians are a rung below. Germany, who beat Argentina 3-2 in the quarter-final, are familiar opponents for India in high-stakes tournaments, the most famous being the bronze medal match in Tokyo, where India registered a thrilling 5-4 win.
In the days leading up to the Paris Games, India had played Germany in practice matches and won five out of six contests. India's most recent contests against Germany were in the FIH Pro League's London leg in June this year, where they defeated them 3-0 before losing 2-3 in the return tie.

"We wanted to play Germany in the final. At least, that was what we had discussed amongst ourselves during team meetings ahead of the Olympic Games. They are challenging opponents and when we play against them, the match usually goes down till the last second," said
Harmanpreet.

The red card incident

It won't be easy for the Indians however, as their key defender and first rusher in penalty corner defence, Amit Rohidas, has been suspended from the semi-final after receiving a contentious red card for hitting Great Britain forward Will Calnan on his face.

"These things are not in our control. While it is a setback to not have Amit on the pitch for the semis, we are focused on the task at hand. On Sunday, what stood out in our performance was the team's ability to take on the added responsibility of a key position that Amit played. Every player stepped up and even until the last minute, we were fighting back," said Harmanpreet, who is India's leading scorer at the Games with seven goals.

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