India will be looking to keep their momentum going as they battle defending Olympic champions Germany in their 2nd match in Group B of the men’s hockey tournament at Rio 2016. Both teams have made a winning start to the tournament. India edged out Ireland 3-2 in a closely fought contest where they took a two-goal lead initially but were pegged back by the Irish twice in the second half. All three of India’s goals have come from penalty corners which remains the most likely source of goals for India heading into the game despite positives from Akashdeep upfront.
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Germany, on the other hand, had a comparatively easier outing as they thrashed the unfancied Canadian team 6-2 in their opening encounter. The Germans are a well-oiled unit capable of producing goals from anywhere on the field. They are particularly lethal on the break and can cause difficulties for the Indian defence if they catch them on a counter attack.
The Germans will know India’s strength from the dead-ball situations and would want to avoid conceding easy penalty corners as both teams try to assert their dominance on the group and ensure easy qualification for the next round.
Also read: Five Things We Learnt From India's Performance Against Ireland
It would be difficult to predict a winner in this game and the last times these two teams met was in the champion’s trophy earlier this year where the match ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw. But both teams will definitely be looking to win and keep the momentum going heading into the midway stage of the group.
Key Players:
India’s lethal touch in the dead-ball situation would make the specialists Raghunath and Rupinder Pal Singh the clear threats to the German defence, who would have to work cohesively to keep India at bay. The captain Sreejesh would also expect a difficult afternoon and need to be in top form for India to get points out of this game.
For Germany, the main threat will be coming from Moritz Furste and Niklas Wellen both of whom scored a brace against Canada.Mattias Muller will be a key cog in the defence for the German side as they would look to defend set pieces against the Indians.
Match Details : Rio 2016 Men’s Hockey Tournament Group B Match 2 Germany vs India
TV Channel : The Star Sports Network & Hotstar
Match Date : 8th 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
Germany
Nicolas Jacobi (GK), Matthias Müller, Linus Butt, Martin Häner (C), Moritz Trompertz, Mats Grambusch, Christopher Wesley, Timm Herzbruch, Tobias Hauke, Tom Grambusch, Christopher Rühr, Martin Zwicker, Moritz Fürste, Florian Fuchs, Timur Oruz, Niklas Wellen
Prediction
It’s difficult to pick a winner in this one. A high scoring draw would be the most likely conclusion to this game. 3-3
