It was as if the Indian women's hockey team completely forgot what their strengths were. After three years of playing under head coach Janneke Schopman, there is now at least a clear playing style attached to this team: play attacking hockey, with proper midfield work rate, a high press, quick transitions and create multiple chances. But then on Saturday, in their crucial Olympic qualifying tournament opener, not one of those attributes were visible on the pitch as India were beaten by the USA 1-0. It was a deserving victory for the US, who played to their strengths and took a big step towards their qualification to the Paris Olympics.
There were multiple instances in the match which showed how India were completely lacking on the pitch. But let's take a look at just three that underline just how lacklustre the performance was -
-- In the second quarter when Baljeet Kaur got the ball in India's half and rushed ahead. There was plenty of space around her and the better option was to pass it quickly to the flanks. But she held on to the ball trying to dribble past the onrushing USA players and lost it.
-- In the third quarter, defender Nikki Pradhan, the vice-captain of the team, collected the ball in her half and then suffered a lapse in concentration. She lost the ball to the sidelines under no attacking pressure. It involved a simple trap and moving of the ball from defence but instead it resulted in a loss in possession and an attacking chance for the USA.
-- In the fourth quarter, when India were desperately trying for an equaliser, Vaishnavi Phalke came up with a bad challenge from behind in the middle of the pitch and was shown a yellow card. She had to sit out for five minutes -- at a time when the team needed all the players on the pitch to try and force a goal.
Now, none of these three instances resulted in a goal for USA. But these were basic errors, arguably unforgivable in such an all-important Olympic qualifying match.
The US deserve a lot of credit for how they executed their gameplan. In fact, they started the match better than India. They effectively used their pressing to win the ball in the midfield and attacked in numbers. And the goal came after a sustained spell of pressing. There was a scramble in India's circle and the home team failed to clear the ball on more than occasion. In the end, it was Abigail Tamer who scooped the ball past Savita Punia to make sure USA get the deserving lead.
India played better hockey after conceding the goal but there was no end product to show. They started winning penalty corners to put the pressure on, but not one of them could beat USA goalkeeper Kelsey Bing. After the half-time break, India pushed hard, but failed to create clear cut chances. And on occasions they did, Bing stood like a rock to thwart the opportunities.
It appeared that Schopman's team had no plan on how to break the deep defending of their opposition. This was something they would've expected, they would've worked on breaking the low block defending. The lack of ideas from India's players was pretty evident on the pitch. It looked like they wanted to play in just one style -- smash the ball from the defence to the forwards, and take it from there. These passes were doing nothing to hurt the USA: most times the ball was punted forward, their midfielders intercepted the balls and quickly started their attacking moves.
The issue now is that this could prove to be a very costly defeat for India, the one that might shatter the Olympic dreams. Imagine not making it to the Olympics after a superb fourth-place finish in the previous Tokyo Games. India now have to beat Italy and New Zealand, tough opponents to negotiate, to keep their semifinal hopes alive. It was just their opening game, but India's campaign is already in must-win territory.