Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh. file. , Photo Credit: ANI
Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a goal as India thrashed Olympic champions Belgium 5-1 here on June 2, after suffering consecutive defeats in their European leg of the FIH Pro League.
Midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad gave India the lead in the second minute of the game, before Harmanpreet (20th and 30th minutes) scored twice from penalty corners.
Other Indian goal scorers were Amit Rohidas (29th) and Dilpreet Singh (60th).
William Ghislain (46th) scored the lone goal for Belgium in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
India, who came to Europe as the Pro League table toppers, lost the opening game of the European leg to Belgium 1–2 on 26 May, before losing 2–4 to Great Britain the next day.
With improvement their mind, the Indians got off to a great start right from the start with a well-executed field goal in the second minute which set the tempo for the game. It was Gurjant Singh who set up the goal for Vivek with a fine assist from the left flank.
India built on this early success, displaying good ball control, and showing the right temperament in their attacking formation.
They put pressure on the Belgian defense when newcomer Sanjay forced the experienced Emmanuel Stockbrokes into an error while making space in the Belgian half. The infringement resulted in India getting their first penalty corner.
Although India could not capitalize on the opportunity, they succeeded with a second PC in the 20th minute when Harmanpreet took a fine injection from Abhishek before sending a powerful drag-flick to find the bottom corner of the board.
The 2-0 lead put the Indian side in a good position, allowing them to play their natural game. He dominated ball possession and continued to puncture the Belgian defence.
In the 29th minute, Rajkumar Pal led the attack in midfield, finding Mandeep Singh on the right flank. Not taking the shot himself, Mandeep made a surprise pass to Amit Rohidas, who took a successful shot on goal to give India a comfortable 3-0 lead.
In the next minute, India won another PC to increase the lead to 4-0. A good injection from Hardik Singh led Amit to a PC variation but his flick was blocked by the Belgian goalkeeper. However, the rebound was picked up by Harmanpreet Singh, who didn’t break a sweat to lay the ball past Loik van Doren.
Finding themselves on the backfoot with India holding a strong lead at half-time, Belgium tested their opponent’s defense when they were awarded back-to-back PCs early in the third quarter.
PR Sreejesh showed some good goalkeeping skills and got the ball safely through at the end.
In the fourth quarter, Belgium finally got a breakthrough when William Ghislan scored a fine field goal in the 46th minute.
The late comeback from Belgium did not affect India’s game. Determined to finish well, India stuck to their structure and produced good attacking hockey in the dying minutes, which resulted in Dilpreet Singh scoring India’s fifth goal in the 60th minute of the FIH Hockey Pro League this season. secured their first win in away games.
India will play Great Britain again on Saturday.