Junior Hockey World Cup: German colts use their greater physique to finish India’s title defence in semifinals

If not for the dozen or so Junior World Cup brandings across the stadium periphery, it could have been straightforward to mistake this for a men-versus-boys contest. At least that’s what it felt like when the 2 groups lined up for the anthems, virtually giving an impression that they had been ordered to face in descending order of their heights, beginning with Germany.
The obtrusive distinction within the physiques, with some German gamers one head taller than their Indian counterparts, obtained magnified as soon as the sport started. When Vishnukant Singh tried to steam forward with the ball via the midfield, Mario Schachner merely lunged ahead and used his lengthy attain to grab the ball away with none fuss, virtually like stealing sweet from a child.
Minutes later, when ahead Uttam Singh tried to play a lobbed cross to beat the 2 males bearing down on him, one in every of them, Erik Kleinlein, simply lifted his stick and intercepted the ball mid-air with such ease that one felt sorry for Uttam.

Rahul Kumar Rajbhar obtained some house on the correct and went one-on-one with Germany’s goalkeeper Anton Brinckman. He beat Brinckman with a dribble and went past him. But the goalkeeper, who was on his knees, used his big wingspan to sort out the Indian ahead and win again possession.

Not the consequence we needed however we gave it our all 💪
Here’s how our Semi-Final match in opposition to Germany went 📸#IndiaKaGame #JWC2021 #RisingStars pic.twitter.com/U2DLNuGHve
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) December 3, 2021
This remained the sample for the whole first half, a interval that determined the Junior World Cup hockey semifinal between India and Germany. Taking full benefit of their top, the six-time champions ended the hosts’ title defence with a facile 4-2 win. The margin may have been loads greater had Germany transformed the three clear-cut probabilities that fell their means within the opening half-hour.
Succumbing to bullying
With their tight man-to-man play, Germany had been at all times going to be an uncomfortable opponent for India. Few, nonetheless, thought it could get so brutal. There had been shades of the German aspect that misplaced to India within the bronze-medal match on the Tokyo Olympics of their junior group that decimated India with their belligerence.
(Twitter/Hockey India)
Both German groups – in Tokyo and right here in Bhubaneswar – used their physique to bully the Indians, particularly within the midfield. At the Olympics, the Indian seniors had been capable of give it again to them and stage a comeback after going 3-1 down. The juniors, nonetheless, succumbed to their fixed, relentless and in-your-face aggression.
“It is what it is, they were pushing us… but that’s what you get at this level,” India coach Graham Reid stated after the match. “That’s why strength and conditioning is so important. We have tactics (to counter that), we have to continue to improve.”
India’s gamers have usually had a top drawback whereas taking part in European opponents. Almost at all times, they negated that with their superior stick abilities and pace. On Friday, they had been unable to make use of the total vary of their abilities.
One of the best methods to nullify the bodily issue is by receiving the ball and instantly stepping away from the defenders’ zone. “You just get out of their reach,” Reid stated. “We weren’t able to do that.”
India is a group that likes to counterattack, as an alternative of taking the initiative in a match. Against Germany, who performed a half-court press, ready of their half for India to make a transfer, the Indians had been compelled out of their consolation zone.
Choking the midfield
The Germans inundated the midfield and compelled India to cross in direction of the sidelines. Indians seemed so occupied in holding an arms-length distance from the Germans that they weren’t capable of make proper selections – whether or not to shoot, discover a foot or dribble.
The additional second they spent on the ball gave Germany sufficient time to make use of their lengthy attain and snatch possession. Germany defended in teams of two, thus placing extra stress on Indian gamers and hardly obtained a sort out fallacious.
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This was crucial, because it helped them hold India away from their ‘D’ – India had half as many circle penetrations in comparison with Germany – and keep away from conceding penalty corners, which has been the hosts’ energy.
And the second they received the ball, Germany launched aerial passes to the opposite half of the pitch, the place forwards would use their energy to outmuscle the Indian defence.
One of India’s hallmarks after the opening defeat to France was the calmness with which the defence has handled high-pressure conditions. While Canada and Poland didn’t check the backline that a lot, the defence – led by Sanjay Kumar, Yashdeep Siwach and Sharda Nand Tiwari – put in a exceptional shift in opposition to Belgium to eke out a quarterfinal win.
The means India defended in opposition to Germany was in stark distinction to the Belgium recreation – the passes lacked zip and had been simply intercepted, they made uncharacteristic trapping errors and the weak left flank was opened up repeatedly.
These had been the identical drawback areas for India in opposition to France, whom they’ll face within the third-place match on Sunday. Against them, within the opening match, India’s largest bane was the shortage of match observe.
Against Germany, they merely fell quick. Quite actually.