Hockey World League Final, highlights: India secure thrilling 5-4 win over Germany with last-minute winner
India finished on top in a thrilling finish with a last-minute penalty corner conversion to beat Germany. They now face Belgium in the 5th/6th play-off.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: August 11, 2014 04:57 PM IST
# Terry Walsh: Delighted with the win. Mandeep showed he can play really well. I am proud of the team's efforts today. We took our chances and were fantastic in the middle. This is an important win and nothing but an improvement for us. Mandeep was really fantastic.
# Mandeep Singh has been named the man of the match for his three goals. He is accompanied by coach Terry Walsh at the presentation.
# What a game for the hosts! They converted their last minute penalty corner to edge past Germany 5-4 and record their first ever win in the tournament. Sardar Singh's men were brave and ambitious on the attack and that showed in the result today, handing them a win. They now face Belgium for the 5tth/6th place play-off. Germany will come up against Argentina for the last two spots.
# More scoring chances for Germany but Indians defend well to deny Germany the lead. Just five minutes remain. GERMANY 4 INDIA 4.
# Germany come close to take a lead with a scoring chance in the 60th minute but Sreejesh deflects the ball away. GERMANY 4 INDIA 4.
# What a game this is turning out to be. Just two minutes after India's lead, Germany win a penalty corner and Martin Haner converts it to go level. GERMANY 4 INDIA 4.
# India have taken the lead in the 52nd minute.What a game Mandeep is having. He gets his third goal through a cheeky conversion from between his legs with his back facing the goal. INDIA 4 GERMANY 3.
# It's attack, attack, attack for India as they make another dangerous run. The final effort on goal was just wide. This game is heading into its most exciting part from here on with 12 minutes to go on the clock. GERMANY 3 INDIA 3.
# What a passage of play from India here! Another surging run from the Indian side has resulted in their third goal. Mandeep Singh scores his second of the game with a close range tap in. It's 3-3 in the 41st minute.
# Good start for India in the second-half. After a lot of good forward runs, they earn a penalty corner after a referral and Rupinder Pal Singh converts.
# HALF-TIME: Germany have been the dominant side so far. They began well and put the Indians on the backfoot and tested their fragile defence on multiple occasions. Skipper Oliver Korn opened the scoring in the fourth minute and Thilo Stralkowski doubled the lead a minute later. India persistently attacked but failed to score initially until Mandeep Singh lost his marker and converted in the 17th minute to pull one back for the hosts. However, in the 25th minute, bad defending from India gave Germany a chance to consolidate and they did so via their third goal from Benjamin Wess. At half-time, Germany lead India 3-1.
# Another defensive lapse from India and Germany have taken full advantage of it as Benjamin Wess converts from close range to give his side a 2-goal lead in the 25th minute. India 1 Germany 3.
# A referral gave Germany a penalty corner but they fluffed it in the 18th minute as India managed to steal the ball and start a counter-attack. The counter, however, was not good enough for India to go level as Germany defended well.
# India continued to make good fast forward runs and it finally paid off in the 17th minute when Mandeep Singh, turned around a defender and converted a fierce shot to pull one back for the hosts. Germany 2 India 1.
# A minute after taking the lead, Germany earn a penalty corner and Thilo Stralkowski converts to go 2-0 up in the fifth minute.
# After a positive start from Germany, the first goal has come in the fourth minute. Oliver Korn the scorer.
# The game is underway at the Major Dhyan Chand stadium in New Delhi. Early chance for New Zealand but the danger has been averted by India.
India's last outing, against Australia in the quarterfinal exposed their defensive frailties. After grabbing the momentum early on with a 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes, they let the world champions run over them to lose 2-7. Coming into this game, the hosts will be wary of their drawbacks and will take a lesson or two from their performances in the tournament so far in their approach against Germany. One could see fatigue creep in for the Indian players as the game progressed and coach Terry Walsh also conceded that his side couldn't match Australia physically. India's drag flickers have also underperformed in the tournament and will hope to put on a good show against the Germans.
India take on Germany in the fifth-eighth play-off tie in Delhi. Sardar & Co. will set out on the search for their first win of the tournament while Germany too will want to finish an otherwise unsuccessful outing with a win. If India win, they face Belgium for the fifth-sixth spot, while a loss will set up a tie against Argentina for the seventh-eighth spot.
Tournament so far
While Germany finished with one win, one draw and one loss in their three matches, India remained win-less, losing two and drawing one.
Last meeting
In their previous meeting, India and Germany played out a thrilling 3-3 draw, the only positive result going the hosts' way. After two successive losses, India's midfield and forwardline forged a potent partnership to score three goals but, due to a few slips up in the backline, they failed to earn a victory. While coach Terry Walsh was happy with his side's draw, he will hope they can go one step further and beat the Germans to give themselves their first win of the tournament.
Preview
Following their crushing defeat to Australia that put them out of the reckoning for the semis, hosts India aim to salvage some pride and look to upset Germany in the fifth-eighth play-off game.The group-stage game between these two sides ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw, a result that pleased Indian coach Terry Walsh and should be an inspiration for the Sardar Singh-led side ahead of the playoff game. (Read full preview)