India's Euro implosion

Bengaluru: Hopes were high, but the reality was sobering. That, in succinct, is the story of the Indian men’s hockey team’s underwhelming campaign during the second leg of the FIH Pro League in Europe.

Riding in with momentum, the squad entered the tournament as back-to-back Olympic bronze medallists (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024), firmly planted among the world’s top five teams. After a solid first leg on home turf, where they racked up 15 points from five wins and three losses to sit comfortably in third place, expectations were justifiably soaring for a strong European showing.

But what followed was a string of disappointments. Leads were squandered, late goals were conceded, defensive cracks widened, and attacking moves fizzled out in the circle. Match after match India faltered, racking up seven straight defeats before salvaging a face-saving win in their final outing. It was too little, too late. The Harmanpreet Singh-led side ultimately slumped to a disheartening eighth-place finish out of nine, a far cry from the promise they carried in.

Up against hosts the Netherlands and Belgium and powerhouses Australia, and Argentina, India were well aware of the magnitude of the challenge. After all, there was a 2026 World Cup berth at stake. The good news, though, was the fact that the Dutch and Belgium had already qualified by virtue of being the hosts of the quadrennial tournament next year and Germany were already in for being the defending champions. So, all that India needed to do was finish as the next best behind these teams to seal their World Cup spot. 

Coach Craig Fulton had touched upon these permutations and combinations while signalling a word of caution during the first pre-match presser on June 6. And a particular point he stressed upon hits home hard as the post-tournament introspection begins. 

“Instead of losing the game, we want to draw the game. If we are not playing well, we need to try and get something out of the game. And when we are playing well, we still need to do well defensively so we can win the game. If that makes sense.”

Who better to buttress this point than the Netherlands. The multiple Olympic gold medallists showed how to convert Fulton’s words into action that helped them finish on top of the table with 35 points at the end of their share of 16 matches. 

Here’s how: The Dutch won a total of seven matches, a mere one win more than India’s six. But the biggest difference was the seven draws they managed (that garnered two points each) which cut down the number of lost encounters to two. End result: 7 wins fetched 21 points and 7 draws accumulated 14 points for a grand total of 35. 

India, on the other hand, let slip more than a handful of opportunities with sloppy play in the dying moments that could have resulted in a few draws. End result: 6 wins gave 18 points and 10 defeats handed them zero points. Call it wishful thinking or hindsight logic, even if India had converted 50% of those losses to draws, they would have ended second on the table with 28 points. 

The biggest reason for this outcome was the visible cracks in the defensive wall that kept the team under pressure from the word go which succumbed especially in the fourth quarter on more than one occasion.

While India scored 18 goals, they conceded 26 goals across eight games. Out of these 26, six of them were leaked in the first quarter while a whopping 10 goals were scored by the opponents in the fourth and final quarter in six games when India were leading on two occasions and were in a position of scores being level in four others. 

If the 58th-minute and the 57th-minute goals conceded to the world No. 1 Netherlands in the opening two matches (giving them 2-1 and 3-2 wins respectively) stung the most, the seventh game against world No. 3 Belgium - where four goals during their 6-3 win came in the last 15 minutes - was appalling to the Indian audience to say the least. 

“Yes, as a fan, of course it is disappointing,” says Arjun Halappa, former India skipper. 

“But, it is a new Olympic cycle, the team is in transition and I think the coach is trying to induce new structures and tactical play which will take time to settle. 

“Having said that, in my opinion, the output from the midfield wasn’t up to the mark compared to what we have witnessed in the past 2-3 years. I think that put more pressure on the defence department,” points out Halappa who played as a forward. 

Essentially, the defenders took a large part of the blame but the midfielders and forwards were equally responsible for lacking tact against top-notch teams who show no mercy in punishing the minutest of lapses in coordination, concentration or stick-work. India’s inferior circle penetration numbers, glaring in five contests, gives a picture of the team’s struggle with ball possession. The fifth and sixth matches against Australia were the worst of the lot. The circle penetration statistics during India’s 2-3 and 2-3 defeats read thus. India: 16, Aus: 28; India: 15, Aus: 30.  

Another area Halappa observes is that the Indian team needs going forward is the injection of young players. This was evident in the new-look Australian team, the hosts Netherlands and Belgium who gave game time to fresh legs without inhibition. 

“In the last match, a 21-year-old (Hugo Labouchere) came off the bench to score a PC (penalty corner) in the 41st minute. Imagine how much confidence that gives a young player. We need to start developing the next Harmanpreet, Manpreet so the load is reduced from the seniors when they have to play high intensity hockey in short durations,” feels Halappa, who was part of the senior set-up even as a junior when he was part of India’s maiden Junior World Cup-winning side in 2001.  

Going back to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, all is not over yet as India host the Asia Cup in August in Rajgir, Bihar where they start as favourites. A win here will ensure an automatic WC berth during a season that also has the Asian Games scheduled. With both the big ticket events scheduled less than a month apart, emphasis on workload management becomes essential. 

“Yes, the process of developing an India A team is still on. We are building depth with the next group of players. The younger lot (Under-21s) have to push hard to get that position. It’s not that I give out free opportunities. I like to see that in training where these guys are at the right level,” Fulton had shared earlier.  

For a team that has set high standards for itself, the European leg of the FIH Pro League exposed the chinks in its armour. India have dropped to No. 8 in the rankings. As they confront and assess the underwhelming performance and stare at bigger challenges, how Fulton and his men re-invent and rebuild in the coming months will be interesting to see.