India will be looking to bounce back from the disappointment of their 2-1 loss against Germany, as they face Argentina in another Group B encounter of men’s hockey tomorrow at the Olympic Hockey Centre in Rio De Janeiro. India lost in the dying seconds of the game to the Germans despite playing better hockey and creating more chances than the defending Olympic champions.
Unsurprisingly, India’s only goal in the game came from a penalty corner, which continues to be the most potent source of goals, despite creating chances from open play. India were the better team on the night but in the end, the Germans emerged victorious. It will be interesting to see how the last minute decider affects the morale of the players heading into the match against Argentina, who are ranked a couple of places below them in the FIH world rankings, but we expect the Indians to put up a strong show nonetheless.
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India will know that a win against Argentina will strengthen their claim of securing a spot in the top 4 as they look to guarantee progression into the knockout phase of the tournament. But India will look to achieve a higher group ranking to avoid facing some of the stronger teams in the other group.
So far, Argentina have drawn against Netherlands 3-3 in their opening encounter before defeating Canada 3-1 to move ahead of India in the group.
Argentina will definitely be no pushovers and it should be a close game, as both teams look to assert their position on the league table and make progression comfortable for themselves. India need to win this game to make sure they do not drift off from the leading pack and expect them to get on the ball and create chances from the word go.
Key Players:
Rupinder Pal Singh and Raghunath continue to be India’s key players, as all of India’s goal in this tournament have come from penalty corners. Sardar Singh will be a vital cog in the wheel at the halfback position, when India look to assert their dominance and dictate the tempo of play against the Argentinians. PR Sreejesh will need to continue being his sturdy best and the senior players of the team must rally the troops after the disappointment of the loss against Germany.
For Argentina, Matias Paredes, Lucas Vila and Gonzalo Peillat should be the most potent source of goals on the field and India must look to make sure they avoid being indisciplined on the pitch and not concede silly penalty corners against them. The Argentinians should play a deep line and widen the play as they look to tire the opposition down before beating them with pace.
Match Details: Rio 2016 Men’s Hockey Tournament Group B Argentina vs India
TV Channel : The Star Sports Network & Hotstar
Match Date : 9th August 2016
Match Time : 7:30 PM IST/11 AM Brazilian Time
Match Venue : Olympic Hockey Centre, Rio De Janeiro
Squads
India
P. R. Sreejesh (C), Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, V. R., Raghunath, Manpreet Singh, Sardara Singh, S. K. Uthappa, Danish Mujtaba, Devinder Walmiki, S. V. Sunil (VC), Akashdeep Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah
Argentina
Juan Manuel Vivaldi (GK), Gonzalo Peillat, Juan Ignacio Gilardi, Facundo Callioni, Lucas Rey, Matías Paredes, Joaquín Menini, Lucas Vila, Ignacio Ortiz ,Juan Martín López, Juan Manuel Saladino, Matías Rey, Manuel Brunet, Agustín Mazzilli, Lucas Rossi, Pedro Ibarra (C)
Group B Standings
Predictions: It will be a close encounter but India should win this one 2-1 against Argentina as they look to bounce back in style.
