FIH Pro League 2023: Classy India outclass World Champions Germany by 6-3

When defining India’s historic victory over Germany in the FIH Pro League game played on Monday at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela, the adjectives will fall short as India defeated Germany 6-3 in the third back-to-back games in FIH Pro League.

India started the game trailing Germany, but incredible performances from Selvam Karthi and Abhisekh helped Men in Blue maintain their lead throughout the game.

Regarding the game’s tempo, Tom Grambusch gave Germany an early lead with a goal in the opening two minutes after successfully converting a penalty corner.

Jugraj Singh scored for India in the opening 20 minutes, while Abhisekh added back-to-back goals in the 21st and 50th minutes.

Harmanpreet Singh scored a goal in the 25th minute, while Karthi scored back-to-back goals on the 23rd and 45th minutes.

Malte Helwig and Gonzalo Peillat both scored twice at the time that these Indian players were scoring goals, respectively on the 22nd and 30th minutes.

India has been remarkable versus Germany, having not dropped a single match in the previous five years, with their most recent defeat occurring in 2017.

If we look closely at the other part of the game from a technical standpoint, India had a remarkable record for ball possession with 52% as opposed to Germany’s 48%.

Of these two teams, Germany has scored the most goals on target(11) in comparison to India (8) goals on target.

Germany has (21) more circle penetrations than India (20) in terms of numbers.

Following the 2023 Hockey World Cup, India had a regime shift and Harmanpreet Singh remained as the country’s leader. The former coach Graham Reid was replaced by interim coaches.

With 10 goals in his arsenal, he has lived up to the trust placed in him, and it is anticipated that he will continue to do so in future games.

Men in Blue will be next facing Australia in couple of days time, it will be interesting to see whether India’s continue to approach attacking instinct or rather than curbing it and relying heavily more on defensive side.