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‘Harmanpreet Singh kissing his hockey stick’ was the emotion of all Indian fans who were there in Yves-du-Manoir Stadium or those closely eyeing their TV sets or mobile screens in the last minutes of the India vs Argentia game. There was a long discussion between the field umpire and the TV umpire for a referral, four penalty corners in the last two moments, another team referral in the 59th minute of the game and whatnot to make it a nail-biting thriller.
The last two minutes of the India vs Argentina, men’s hockey, Pool B match in the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024, were filled with utter chaos and drama, with the adrenaline rush at its peak. Finally, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh once again stepped in for his side and managed to avoid an ‘unaffordable’ defeat for India in the Paris Olympics.
The Pool B fixture ended with a 1-1 scoreline, with both teams sharing the points; however, it was not less than a win for India as they managed to pull out a draw after trailing by 0-1 for a long time of 38 minutes. India’s struggle with the conversion of ‘penalty corners’ was also seen in this game against Argentina, the men in blue could convert only one ‘penalty corner’ out of the 10 ‘penalty corners’ they earned.
Argentine errors gave a chance for redemption to the Indian skipper in the last minutes
Speaking of action of the match from the first whistle, the first quarter went goalless with both teams showing a tough fight. Both teams earned two penalty corners each in the first quarter and both failed to execute the awarded ‘penalty corners’ into the goals.
Later, the ‘penalty corner’ arsenal of India led by skipper Singh failed to convert all three corners they earned in the second quarter of the game. Meanwhile, the senior Argentia forward Lucas Martinez came up with a first dent in the Indian hopes with a brilliant field goal in the 22nd minute of the game. It made the scoreline 1-0 in Argentina’s favour.
The Les Leones were easily heading for their third-ever win against India till the last moments of the game as they managed to maintain a ‘1-0 lead till the 58th minute of the match. But the tables turned for Agustin Mazzili’s men when fortune and a few of their errors favoured the men in blue in getting five penalty corners in the last two minutes of the game.
Indian skipper and star drag-flicker, Harmanpreet Singh took the first ‘penalty corner’ and missed it; it was followed by another miss by midfielder Hardik Singh while taking the shot in a re-penalty corner. Subsequently, India were awarded two more penalty corners which were successively missed by skipper Singh.
However, the Indian camp heaved a sigh of relief when skipper Singh finally converted the fifth and last chance of ‘penalty corner’ into a goal to level the score by 1-1. Eventually, this late equalizer helped India to end the game in a draw to keep their hopes alive in the competition.