FIH Men’s Junior World Cup: India up against mighty Germany

Having escaped by the skin of their teeth in the quarterfinal, India face a more formidable challenge in the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup semifinals here on Sunday. 

On the backfoot from the beginning, crucial saves from goalkeeper Princedeep Singh and a couple of timely dragflicks by defender Sharda Nand Tiwari and captain Rohit Yadav saw the hosts survive a nail-biter against world No. 7 Belgium at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium on Friday. 

Having battled their way into the semifinals, world No. 2 India are now up against a tougher opponent -- the world No. 1 Germany. Another do or die game where mistakes will be mercilessly punished and bravery mightily rewarded. 

Clearly perturbed by his teams last-minute mishap that saw Belgium equalise 2-2 to force the match into a tense shootout, coach PR Sreejesh was seen fuming after the home players made themselves look sheepish in front of a packed house.  

"Not at all, you can't sleep! In the last minutes, you can't sleep," the 37-year-old former India goalkeeper exclaimed during the post-match interaction on Friday. 

"Because they were having that game (on India's side with 2-1 lead). These shootouts, it can go in any direction. If the goalkeeper does one good save, then (you're) done. Finished. So you don't need to go that far to win this match, you just need to finish it there itself. That was an easy, silly mistake." 

On the other hand, it wasn't all hunky-dory for defending champions Germany either. The seven-time title holders were chased, choked and given a scare by last edition's runners-up France in their last-eight contest. Following a 2-2 scoreline at full-time, the Ben Hasbach-led side held their nerve to come through via shootouts. 

Going by both the opponents' quarterfinal encounters, both India and Germany have experienced their fair share of brilliance and instability. While India will take solace in the fact that they have so far scored a total of 31 goals and conceded two -- as opposed to Germany's 18 goals scored to three conceded -- a tense victory could well be the trigger the Rohit-led side needed to up their game. 

"We need to introspect about the things we've done. Because Germany have a different style of game. They are a more structured and disciplined team. So we need to come up with new variations," said Sreejesh about the opponents India next face. 

"The best thing is, after the next match it will be the final. I've been to that place twice, if you cross that hurdle, you are walking into the final with (at least) a silver medal around your neck. Semifinal is purely pressure. Control the game and play simple. That will be the message." 

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The best of Chennai's hospitality -- a cool and breezy evening with a large, loud enthusiastic crowd behind the home boys -- will be on display come Sunday. 

Sreejesh's men have enough in them to make the night as starry as they want under what is predicted to be a clear moonlit sky. Word of caution: Germany are masters of playing spoilsport.