On the basis of the goal scored by captain Harmanpreet Singh in the last minutes, India drew the match 1-1 against Argentina in the Paris Olympics on Monday. Till the 58th minute, Team India was trailing by one goal. Here India got three penalty corners, out of which Harmanpreet scored in the third attempt to level the match. After this, the goal could not be scored and the match ended in a draw.
India defeated New Zealand 3-2 in its first match. Now it has to play against Ireland, Belgium, and Australia. To go to the next round, India will have to show better games in the upcoming matches. This is the second draw match between India and Argentina in the history of the Olympic Games. Earlier, both the teams had played a 2-2 draw in 2004. Argentina was hoping to open its account by defeating India but Harmanpreet's goal dashed its hopes.
Argentina kept India away from scoring goals for a long time in this match and the reason for this was its goalkeeper, who foiled all the attempts of India by making many brilliant saves. Argentina started this match fast and played aggressive hockey. However, Team India was also not behind. The defense line of both the teams showed alertness and did not let the attacking line come too close nor did they allow them to finish.
In the seventh minute, India created an opportunity and tried to enter Argentina's D from the left end. Team India, however, did not succeed. After this, for the next few minutes, India continuously registered its presence near Argentina's D and put the opposition team in trouble. Team India was putting pressure on Argentina's defense line with one-touch and short passes.
India took advantage of this and got a penalty corner in the ninth minute. However, Harmanpreet was not present on the field at this time. India could not convert this penalty corner into a goal. After some time, Abhishek tried to score a goal on a reverse hit from the right corner but missed from very close. Argentina also got a penalty corner in the 13th minute. There was a fear that Argentina might score a goal. But the wall named Sreejesh spoiled their plans. Both teams could not score any goal in the first quarter.
India got a penalty corner at the beginning of the second quarter. This time Team India captain Harmanpreet tried his best but failed. The ball hit the leg of Argentina's goalkeeper and went out. Immediately India got the third penalty corner, but this time also the team's account could not be opened. After a long effort, Argentina finally opened its account by scoring the first goal of this match. Lucas Martines scored a field goal and put Argentina ahead 1-0. This is his second goal against India in his career. Earlier, he had scored his first goal against India in the Tokyo Olympics.
In the last minutes of the second quarter, both the teams showed patience and did not rush as both teams were trying to avoid counter attacks. The result was that Argentina ended this quarter with a 1-0 lead.
In the third quarter, India desperately needed a goal. As soon as it came, it started trying. Initially, India got a close chance which went away due to the alertness of the Argentine goalkeeper. He kicked the ball out with his foot. Argentina also started attacking and entered India's D. The ball came to Sreejesh, which he kicked out. Here, however, Argentina got a penalty corner. Mico Casella's shot could not bring the second goal for Argentina. Argentina demanded a penalty stroke on this, which it got but Mico hit the ball out.
Abhishek created a great opportunity in the 40th minute. He came in front of the goalpost with the ball and tried to shoot by turning but the ball went out. Argentina got two penalty corners in the 42nd minute and failed on both occasions. Two minutes later, India also got a penalty corner and this time too India missed the opportunity. Harmanpreet Singh could not put the ball in the goalpost. Both the teams could not score a goal despite trying hard in the last minute and Argentina ended this quarter with a 1-0 lead.
It seemed that India would lose this match. But in the last two minutes, India got three consecutive penalty corners and on the third occasion, captain Harmanpreet equalized the score by putting the ball in the net.
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