Olympics 2021: Indian men's hockey team triumph over Germany to win bronze, a medal after 41 years


Olympics 2021: Indian men's hockey team triumph over Germany to win bronze, a medal after 41 years

India fought back fiercely from a two-goal deficit to beat Germany 5-4 in a high-intensity goal-fest to win bronze. This is India’s first medal in men's hockey at the Olympics after a wait of 41 years.

This was a dream come true for billions of hockey fans as India came back from 1-3 down to score an notable 5-4 win that reminded its fans of the glory days when the Indians were a force to reckon with in world hockey.

Simranjeet Singh (17th, 34th) scored a brace of goals while Hardik Singh (27th min), Harmanpreet Singh (29th min) and Rupinderpal Singh (31st min) scored a goal apiece for India while for Germany Timur Cruz (2nd min), Niklas Wellen (24th min), Benedict Furk (25th min) and Lukas Windfeder (48th min) were on target.

India unleashed a four-goal blitz in four minutes as they came roaring back after being pinned down 1-3 by the Germans who began aggressively and created good pressure by going full press from the beginning itself.

But the Indians took charge of the midfield, capitalised on the gaps created by the hard-pressing Germans, and retaliated brilliantly, cutting the German defence to shreds in that four-minute period that left the opponents stunned.

Until then, it looked like Tobias Hauke's side had taken control of the match as they opened the scoring in the second minute of their first attack and then scored twice within a minute as they took control of the proceedings with a 3-1 lead.

The Indians continued with the momentum in the third quarter and a minute after the restart, earned a penalty stroke when Mandeep Singh was brought down by Oruz in the shooting circle. Rupinderpal Singh's push had too much power for German goalkeeper Alexander Stadler, who guessed the direction but could not get down fast enough to stop it.

India made things more difficult for Germany when Simranjeet Singh was targeted again in the 34th minute after he was set up by Gurjant Singh, who made a good run to the goal-line and sent a minus ball inside the circle.

Earlier, India made a slow start and was down a goal within two minutes as Germany went ahead when Timur Oruz shot home an opportunistic field goal. Florian Fusch made a run on the left flank and sent a ball into the shooting circle for Oruz to deflect it through Sreejesh's legs to make it 1-0.

India responded immediately and made it 1-1 when Simranjeet Singh, who came in after Lalit Upadhyay was left out of the 16-man squad by coach Graham Reid, capitalised on some great work by Hardik Singh who stole the ball. Hardik gave it to Nilakanta Sharma, who set up Simranjeet with a superb long pass down the centre of the shooting circle.

But Germany scored two goals in quick succession, capitalising on defensive errors by the Indians to make it 3-1. They struck twice within two minutes, Wellen made it 2-1 when Hardik lost the ball near the shooting circle and a minute later Furk was on target when Indian defender Surinder Kumar delayed in clearing the ball and was dispossessed by a German forward (3-1 for Germany).

But the lead was short-lived as India responded immediately and launched a blitzkrieg of attacks that sealed the victory eventually.