India swamped 0-4

ROTTERDAM: It has happened so many times before. So much so, that that one has now become immune to it. Riding the high horse one day, turning downright pedestrian the next. That’s the story of Indian hockey.
It unfolded yet again. After coming up with a cracking performance against Holland on Saturday, it was only natural to expect an encore, or something close to it, when India took on Spain in the second stage of the Rabo men’s under 21 Junior World Cup hockey tournament.
But Spain did to India what the defending champions had done to Holland.It was not so much a spectacular showing, but a strong and spirited one that fetched the world’s top-ranked squad a win by a resounding 4-0 margin on the stadium pitch of the Hockey Club Rotterdam on Sunday.
The ordinariness of the Indians was shocking. If they performed like a slick and mean machine on Saturday, they were totally disjointed on Sunday. Not a single player was able to contribute even 10% of their true potential. Everyone seemed more like a confused animal with a trap on its leg, running aimlessly towards a freefall.
There was never any attempt to attack from the flanks. Instead, they seemed content in bunching together down the middle. They thus stuttered and stumbled through their numerous mix-ups. So wretched was their build-ups in attack against a solid and sure Spanish armada, that they did not come by even a single shot at goal.
But India lost the match in the midfield. VS Vinay, Nitin Kumar and Vikram Kant showed a distinct tendency to overdo the dribble. The less said about Dhananjay Mahadik the better. One lost count of the number of ill-directed passes, the number of occasions when India gifted away position through these individual forays.
And in defence too, both Sandeep Singh and William Xalco failed to come up with a semblance of understanding and sharpness. Thrice, the Spaniards ripped through the Indian defence unchallenged and scored.
Goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza was not his alert and agile self. He judged the push by David Alegre from an early penalty storke correctly and even got a pad to it. But it was not enough. So too, the next goal, which Sergio Enrique scored for Spain. Adrian palmed the flick but there was no defender to clear the rebound and the Spaniard slammed home before Adrian could recover.
Captain Alegre picked up a brace of goals as India went through a leisurely stroll. Sergio and Juan Linz completed the tally.
Other action, however, provided plenty of excitement. Australia, clever, crisp and cocky, survived a major scare from Malaysia and rallied twice to gain a 3-3 result in a pool F contest. Once again, Mohd Rehab Sulkifi was the toast of the Malaysians as he picked up a hat-trick. But Colin Hennessey, Mark Knowles and Thomas Cleghorn denied him the satisfaction he would have cherished.
In another Pool F tie, Germany scored once in each half to get the better of Pakistan. Fancied South Korea, meanwhile, overcame an initial hiccup and went on to had Egypt a 4-2 defeat which took their tally in pool E to nine points.