Junior hockey World Cup: Germany’s half-court press may get tough; however India have the shock up their sleeve

After surviving a wave of Belgian assaults via some cussed defending, India will tackle an opponent, Germany, within the Junior World Cup semifinal that’s diametrically reverse, each when it comes to fashion and mentality.
Man marking
Unlike Belgium, who performed zonal, which gave India an opportunity to intercept passes and play inside their very own consolation stage – provided that they, too, play an analogous fashion – Germany employed man-to-man marking of their quarterfinal in opposition to Spain.
If they play an analogous fashion in opposition to India, it may choke the group’s inventive shops like captain Vivek Sagar Prasad, who performs as centre-half. When Prasad is given area and time within the midfield, he is ready to use his tempo and agility to obtain a move and launch the forwards along with his pure intuition to play an attacking ball. However, given his quick stature – he’s 5’3” – he might be outmuscled if Germany’s cumbersome midfielders mark him intently.

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The similar goes for the forwards, who might need to play in mixtures of two or three to get behind their markers. It’s a mode India haven’t performed till now, so if Germany play the identical means as they did in opposition to Spain, it may get tough for India.
Half-court press
India is a facet that likes to counterattack. Belgium, who performed excessive up, allowed India to make use of their blinding velocity to maneuver ahead. But Germany have thus far performed a half-court press, conserving all gamers behind the half-line to dam the midfield and power the passes in direction of the sidelines.
This means India must take the initiative and assault, which isn’t essentially the group’s robust level. Germany will look forward to India to make errors and hit them on the break with each lack of possession. For India, the chance can come each time one of many gamers steps out of place, which is usually a risk in a system that calls for a excessive stage of self-discipline.
Tricks up India’s sleeves
But, as they confirmed in opposition to Belgium, India have been inventive of their method and have had the audacity to be progressive even in crunch conditions.
The penalty nook variation – and the truth that they had been okay to not let their fundamental drag-flicker take the one nook probability that fell their means – in opposition to Belgium was proof of this. It indicated the depth of expertise on this group, which has not one however a number of gamers who’ve stepped up when the state of affairs has demanded.

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While Sanjay Kumar was the group’s hero within the group phases, within the quarterfinals, it was the calm defensive work of Yashdeep Siwach and Sharda Nand Tiwari – who additionally scored the objective – and sharp goalkeeping by Pawan which contributed to the win.
Tiwari has stated India have extra tips up their sleeves for the semifinals in opposition to Germany. “We’ll showcase them one by one, we have a few more surprises,” he stated.
Semifinals line-up:
4.30 pm: France vs Argentina
7.30 pm: India vs Germany

It’s Semi-Final time 😍
The battle of heavyweights is all set to thrill and entertain us. 🙌
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— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) December 2, 2021
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