NEW DELHI: "Keep faith in yourselves and stay calm," coach Craig Fulton told the Indian players when the team went into a huddle at half time, trailing 0-1 in the second hockey Test against Germany here on Thursday.
The Indians had played much better in the first half than they had the day before, but the game was threatening to go out of their reach due to their inability to convert the chances that came their way.
Having failed to score even once on Wednesday, the team was desperately in search of a goal to boost their confidence. That moment came four minutes into the second half when a young Shilanand Lakra got hold of the ball near the German circle and passed it to Sukhjeet Singh whose reverse hit got India their first goal of the series.
That goal changed everything. The team which was struggling to beat the German deep defence for the second straight match, suddenly looked possessed. In the next three minutes India forced three penalty corners. They failed to score from any of them but that did not deter them as they kept hammering at the German defence.
The sustained pressure cracked the German defence open as India pumped in four goals within a period of six minutes, including three in three minutes. First Harmanpreet Singh scored from a penalty corner, India’s 9th, hitting the ball to the top of the net. He followed up with a powerful ground shot to the goalkeeper’s left in the next penalty corner to make it 3-1 for India. Two minutes later, Vishnukant Singh’s long pass from near the half-line to Abhishek inside the German circle was well intercepted, and he turned around to hit it to the right of the goalie.
Stunned by the series of reverses, Germany pushed forward offering Sukhjeet enough space and the chance to increase the lead in the 48th minute.
Sukhjeet, running with the ball, dodged past a couple of defenders before tapping the ball in while diving as the goalkeeper tried in vain to defend his citadel.
There were still 12 minutes left and the fifth goal virtually sealed the fate of Germany. The visitors managed to score two goals in the remaining time through Elian Mazkour (57th) and Henrik Mertgens (60th) with the final goal coming just two seconds before the final hooter. This was Mazkour’s second goal of the match, having scored the first goal in the 7th minute of the match.
"What we couldn’t do yesterday, we did today," an elated Fulton said after the match. "We played well yesterday but we were not sharp. Today, we improved our game and were full of energy to score some good goals. The younger players also contributed well."