World No. 3 Spain kept their hopes of a semi-final spot alive with a 5-2 rout of India in a World Cup Group B match.
Coach Jose Brasa was all attention when the national anthem of Spain played before Thursday night’s needle clash at the National Stadium. When the capacity crowd sang the Jana Gana Mana along with the players, India’s Spanish coach put his right hand on his heart. Little did he know 70 minutes later, Spain would break it with their best display in the World Cup so far.
Atrocious defending by India helped Spain clinch a seven-goal thriller. Five goals came in the second half, with the opening eight minutes after half-time producing four. Spain’s second win leaves them with a chance to make the semis as the second team from group B, but Australia, also with two wins, have a superior goal-difference at this stage. England are in pole position with three wins from as many games.
India, can at best improve their No. 12 ranking in the world. They play England next on Saturday, but India have clearly squandered home advantage. The hosts have themselves to blame for the poor show. Apart from poor defending, India scored only once from seven penalty corners when Sandeep Singh made it 1-2 in the 38th minute with a trademark flick to the goalie’s left.
Gurwinder Chandi, who played his best match so far, scored India’s second in the 43rd minute, capping a blazing Tushar Khandekar cross that sizzled across the Spanish defence. These were the only bright sparks in an Indian display that lacked imagination from a virtually dead mid-field.
Spain used the long balls to telling effect. Spain converted only two of their six penalty corners, but they made a mockery of the Indian deep defence with scorching cracks criss-crossing the scoring area. As a result, goals came off crisp deflections.One such angular drive from Albert Sala helped Spain draw first blood in the 19th minute. The second goal, at the stroke of half-time, was a gift from the Indian defence as an Alex Fabregas cross left the unmarked Spanish skipper Pol Amat with a simple finish (2-0).
India looked a galvanized unit after the break. The crowd went wild after Sandeep scored his third goal of the championship in the 38th minute. But Spain struck back when Pau Quemada scored the first of his two goals from a setpiece in the 40th minute.Ramon Alegre took advantage of a huge gap in the Indian defence to make it 4-1 in the 42nd but Chandi’s goal next minute, kept the game alive.
Two brilliant saves by the Spanish goalie Francisco Cortes midway through the second half clearly deflated the Indians and Spain got stronger on the home run.The Indians were lucky not to lose by a bigger margin. Goalkeeper Sreejesh, who played from the start in place of Adrain D’Souza, saved two certain goals but could not stop Spain’s fifth, another neat finish by Quemada from a short corner.
Pakistan and India may never be on the same page on and off the field, but at least they went down by identical 5-2 margins on Thursday. Sports, as they say, can be a great leveller!
