2024-07-30 00:14:51
Paris: Rahul Dravid was seen cheering the Indian men’s hockey team at the Paris Olympics 2024. The match was held on Monday at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium 1, where the Harmanpreet Singh-led side faced a tough fight against Argentina. This Group B match between India and Argentina ended in a 1-1 draw. Dravid earlier met Jason Kelsey of the Philadelphia Eagles in the National Football League. After the conversation, he also gave a special message “Chak De India” to the national hockey team with his signature on the wall. Talking about the match, India held Rio Olympic champions Argentina to a 1-1 draw on the strength of captain Harmanpreet Singh’s goal on a penalty corner a minute before the final whistle. This first goal came on the tenth penalty corner India got in this match, which tells the whole story. In the last match too, India had defeated New Zealand 3-2 thanks to Harmanpreet’s goal on a penalty stroke in the 59th minute.
Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Indian team did not look in form throughout the match. Penalty corners were very weak and experienced midfielders like Manpreet Singh and Hardik Singh were nowhere to be seen in the match. Apart from this, the forward line made many mistakes and missed opportunities at crucial moments. Argentina, which lost to Australia in the first match, took the lead in the 22nd minute on the basis of Lucas Martinez’s goal and after that the Indian team kept yearning for an equaliser.
The Indians attacked inside the circle many times, but Argentina’s goalkeeper Santiago Tomas foiled every attack of India with great alertness. Harmanpreet scored a goal and saved the Indian spectators present in the stadium from returning disappointed. Now India has to play against Ireland on Tuesday, after which it will face big teams like Belgium and Australia. In such a situation, coach Craig Fulton will have to tighten the weak links.