Men in Blue batter Belgium

Sakyasen Mittra

Bhubaneswar, Dec 11: They came as the stadium reverberated to the tunes of ‘Sabse bara hoga Hindustani’ and ‘Chak de India’ not to forget the ‘India jitega’ chant all through the 60-plus minutes of the game. And ‘Hindustani’ turned out to be superior after all as India staged a remarkable comeback to overcome Belgium 4-2 here Friday at the Kalinga Stadium. Rupinder Singh, Sannuvanda Uthappa, Akashdeep Singh and Dharamvir Singh ensuring India’s place in the semifinals of the Champions Trophy. A feat that did not look like happening as Belgium went 2-0 up midway through the second quarter with goals from Felix Denayer and Sebastien Dockier.

The script couldn’t have been better written. On a day when Pakistan won how could their arch rivals stay behind? And India set up Thursday what Bhubaneswar had been waiting for – a Pakistan-India clash. PR Sreejesh was not wrong when he stated after the game: “If they (Pakistan) win, we cannot just bow out of the tournament.” It indeed was a great day for Asian hockey as both the giants remained in contention as India ranked ninth knocked out fourth ranked Belgium while Pakistan (11^th) sent the Netherlands (second) packing.

It was a total team effort that enabled India to win. Yes, there were quite a few outstanding individuals – man of the match Dharamvir, Danish Mujtaba, Sardar Singh and Rupinder. But what stood out was the coordination that the entire team showed. There was always one player covering up for the other. So when VR Raghunath made a mis-pass in the middle of the pitch he always found another person covering for him.

The first three quarters were equal for both the teams. Belgium went ahead with the third penalty corner and then Dockier added a second after a lovely through ball from skipper John-John Dohmen. Immediately after conceding the second goal, India hit back through Rupinder (first penalty corner), his shot being deflected into the goal by a Belgian defender. A few minutes later it was 2-2 as Uthappa hit the target after Sunil had set the ball up for him.

It was in the fourth quarter that India completely outplayed the visitors. After both sides had missed two opportunities early on into the quarter, India started to dominate. Akashdeep missed a chance, but made up for it two minutes later as Dharamvir and Sunil split the Belgian defence down the right. Sunil’s final ball was pushed into the net by Akashdeep with the Belgian custodian Jermey Gucassoff haplessly stranded.

Hardly had the cheers died down, India launched another attack, but this time Sunil shot wide. Then a Sardar through ball found Akashdeep, but he held on the ball too long and was ultimately disposed. However, India were not to be denied goal. Launching a furious counterattack in which they only played four passes India opened the up the Belgian goal. The final ball from Akashdeep found Dharamvir and he duly converted. India were home and dry and after that it was only ‘Chak de India’.