image source, Hockey India/Twitter
India beat Spain 2-0 in the first match of the Hockey World Cup in Odisha.
Dominating the game right from the start, the Indian players got a penalty corner opportunity in the 12th minute. The Indian players brilliantly converted it into a goal.
In the 26th minute, the Indian players scored another goal after brilliantly stealing the ball into Spain’s D zone.
At half-time, the Indian team was leading 2-0.
India got a penalty stroke chance in the 32nd minute. Harmanpreet Singh took advantage of this opportunity. But Spanish goalkeeper Rafi made a brilliant save.
An appeal was made on behalf of the Indian team that the goalkeeper had left the goal line before hitting the ball. But it is not confirmed in the video. As a result, he was not given the opportunity to hit the penalty stroke again.
The third quarter was scoreless. Penalty corner and penalty stroke opportunities were missed by the Indian team.
Indian player Abhishek was handed a 10-minute suspension for his collision with the Spaniard in the 48th minute.
Although Spain had a few scoring chances throughout the game, the Indian defenders and the goalkeeper prevented them from scoring.
In the 51st minute, Indian player Krishan blocked a shot towards the Indian goal.
Spain had two corner chances after that. The Spaniards squandered both these chances.
The Indian team won by 2-0.
image source, Hockey India/Twitter
Indian team dreams of a trophy
The 15th World Cup of Hockey will be held from January 13 to 29 in Rourkela and Bhubaneswar, Odisha. 16 teams are participating in it.
For this World Cup matches, a stadium has been specially built in Rourkela named after tribal revolutionary Birsa Munda.
Bhubaneswar is the only city in the country to host the World Cup for the second time. The 2018 World Cup was also held here.
Earlier India had organized World Cup matches in Mumbai, New Delhi and Bhubaneswar. But India could not get on the podium.
But India is confident that the 47-year medal drought will end this time.
image source, Hockey India/Twitter
Challenge for India
If we talk about the last five years, no other team has done better than Belgium. During this time, the team not only won gold at the Tokyo Olympics and the 2018 World Championships, but also won the 2019 European Championship title.
So the team is considered a strong contender to win the title once again. Belgium is actually a very balanced team. It has the ability to tear any team apart with its attacking play.
The other teams in this group are Germany, South Korea and Japan. Belgium will only face a somewhat stronger challenge from Germany to top the group.
Apart from losing to Argentina in the final of the 2016 Rio Olympics, the team has not been able to put up any strong performances in recent times. Teams from Korea and Japan are also capable of springing surprises.
Australia is second to none If we have to talk about the best team in the last twenty years, it is Australia. It has always been among the top four teams in the World Cup for the last twenty years. During this time it has won all major titles like Olympics, World Cup, FIH Pro League, Commonwealth Games.
It had to settle for a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, losing to Belgium in the final.
image source, Hockey India/Twitter
Australia’s Group A includes 2016 Olympic champions Argentina, France and South Africa. The way Australia are playing at the moment, none of these teams seem capable of stopping them. But all three teams believe in playing fast hockey. So those teams can perform the unexpected. However, Australian captain Okendein expressed confidence that we will win the title this time. The Netherlands have played in the finals of the last two World Cups but failed to lift the trophy. They lost to Belgium in a penalty shootout in the final last time. But this time it is hoping to win a fourth title. Over the past few years, the Netherlands have fielded a squad with a youth force. But it has been 25 years since the team last won the World Cup. This is a talented team. But it is a bit difficult to say whether gold can be captured.
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