Hockey: Spirited Sreejesh & Co are assured of QF berth

RIO DE JANEIRO: It was a game which could have gone any team's way. India and the Netherlands were locked 1-1 after the 40th minute and the third quarter was coming to a close. However, the boys in blue, who had just equalized and were on the attack, suffered a huge blow. Two players -VR Raghunath and SV Sunil -were shown yellow cards by the umpire in the 42nd minute.Raghunath was penalized for inappropriate body contact - elbowing a rival - and Sunil for pushing a stick into the back of a defender. It happened in the heat of the moment, but the damage was done.
These two yellows signalled red for India. They were down to nine men with their backs to the wall. It changed the game but brought to fore India's fighting qualities. It also showed why India's Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans is so highly rated. The Indians played with nine men, nine brave men, for almost six minutes. The Dutch smelled the kill and went for it, and the Indians defended, desperately and strongly.
Goalkeeper Sreejesh stood firm, like always, and made two brilliant saves in that period. However, the rhythm of the team had been disturbed by then and the Dutch payers, who had failed to make much of an impression in the first 30 minutes, managed to go ahead 2-1 through a penalty corner.

The suspended Indians were back by then and with just four minutes to go for the hooter, Oltmans pulled goalkeeper Sreejesh out, giving his yellow jersey to Raghunath. It was no holds barred after that ­ you either got the equalizer or you let in a few more. It's rare to see a coach take this risk in a league match of the Olympics. It was not a knockout game but Oltmans knew what he was doing, and his boys knew it too. They needed that crucial point.
To India's credit, all 11 men went into the attack. They kept hammering at the Dutch defence and at goalkeeper Jaap Stockman, rated along with Sreejesh among the best in the world. The ball stayed in the Dutch half for all of four final minutes and more. The Oranje had no intentions to try and increase the lead.
They pulled back to defend. Then India won a penalty corner through Harmanpreet Singh. Rupinder's flick - the player was featuring in his 150th game for India - found a defender's leg and then began a series of penalty corners. Five in all, back-to-back. The hooter had indicated the end but according to rules, the penalty corners had to be taken. The Indians went after it, again and again and again, trying out small little variations. Zilch.
It was almost like a great escape for the Dutch, such was the intensity of the match at the end. Wednesday's win should take them above India in the table when the quarterfinalists are decided. "We played very well but could not score in the final minutes. A draw would have been the just result. You need some luck too. But I will look at the positives - nine men defended well and even controlled the match. We will continue to fight," skipper Sreejesh said.
Coach Oltmans looked disappointed with the result. The Dutch coach took on the higher-rated Dutch team and almost scored over them. That must rankle. "Today's game showed that we are close to the top teams in the world. A draw would have been satisfying. But to fight for such a long period with nine men is not easy. All credit to the boys," he said.
On pulling Sreejesh out in the last four minutes, Oltmans said: "We tried it out in Spain before coming here. If you want a desired result, you go for broke."
India's berth in the quarterfinals was later confirmed following Germany's 4-4 draw against Argentina. India, who have six points from four matches, will play Canada on Friday. The Netherlands and Germany too qualified for the quarterfinals.