With 17.1 seconds to go in the match, the ball was deep in Uruguay’s defence. India had a 1-0 lead to protect, but it should have much more significant for how much possession they enjoyed during the match. But in the blink of an eye, Uruguay broke forward and won a Penalty Stroke with two seconds left on the clock, to stun India and force a shootout. Eventually though, goalkeeper Nidhi stepped up in the tiebreaker to hand India a win that asked more questions than provided answers at the Estadio Nacional, Santiago. With the win, India entered the final classification match for the 9th-10th place, where they will take on Spain on Thursday
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“It was a tough game, we will analyse our mistakes. There was pressure in the shootout but we managed to come through, we are happy for that,” Ishika, player of the match, told the broadcasters.
India got a reprieve in the fifth minute after a stray ball from Jyoti Singh gave Uruguay a chance to drive forward and win a Penalty Corner. Lalthantluangi then made life harder for India’s defence, carelessly earning a green card for not being ready on the post on time. Uruguay tried a variation and nearly created a clean opening at the far post, but somehow over-elaborated the move and wasted the chance to take the lead.
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India did have the better of the attacking stats in the opening quarter but it ended with neither side breaking the deadlock. A flowing passing move from defence to offence helped India win their first Penalty Corner in the 3rd minute of Q2, they attempted a variation too, trying to set up the injector Sakshi Rana down the left byline, but the shot on goal was well saved. India eventually took the lead in the 19th minute when Manisha completed a patient passing move, with a powerful shot to the near post from the right channel at the edge of the circle.
At this point, India had taken complete control of possession. But as has been the case in the tournament, the attacking gameplay lacked cohesion in the final third, as India’s territorial advantage wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard at halftime. India had 57% possession and 11 circle entries compared to Uruguay’s five.
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Ishika made a bright start to the third quarter down both flanks, involved heavily in most of India’s good attacking work. A couple of PCs came and went but India continued to struggle to create outright goalscoring chances while Uruguay limited the damage and kept themselves in the contest. With less than two minutes to go, India created a big chanceb by turning over possession in Uruguay’s half but Purnima shot high and wide when she had better passing options.
A fast start to the final quarter saw India win their fourth PC and once more they opted for an elaborate variation, ending up not even testing the goalkeeper. After absorbing long spells of pressure, Uruguay won a PC for themselves from a rare foray forward with 11 minutes to go. And from a couple of set pieces, they looked closer to scoring than India ever did from their routines, as Nidhi had to make two sharp saves. India wasted two more PCs down the other end. Sakshi managed to at least force a save from Francisca Guani from open play, with a good reverse hit from the edge of the circle but the goalkeeper was upto the task.
And then with barely any time left on the clock, India’s woeful game awareness and defending against a simple direct play led to a Penalty Stroke that helped Uruguay force a shootout out of nowhere. In the shootout, India had a stroke of luck, literally, as Uruguay’s Arregui this time hit the post from 7 yards out. Nidhi then pulled off a good stick save while attackers did their part to eventually take India past the finish line.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd