India's men's hockey team failed to qualify for the semifinals of the FIH Hockey World Cup after the Harmanpreet Singh-led side were beaten 5-3 by a tough Argentine team in a must-win match on Monday.
The Indian team were playing catch-up from the very first minute after conceding a field goal to Joaquin Toscani.
The pressure of conceding an early goal saw its hopes of reaching the World Cup semifinals end. After losing to the Netherlands in their previous match, India were almost out of the race for the last four from Pool E.
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However, Argentina's 3-1 victory over England had technically kept their qualification hopes alive.
India needed to win by at least two goals to advance, but conceded twice in the opening six minutes and struggled to recover. Poor passing, frequent loss of possession and a leaky defence made their task way more difficult.
India did manage to score twice within a span of two minutes late in the match, but by then it was too little, too late.
The final pool match between England and the Netherlands will determine the second semifinalist. The Netherlands has already advanced to the semifinals.
Argentina maintained its supremacy after defeating India 8-0 and 4-2 in the FIH Pro League in Rourkela earlier this year. Argentina's goals came from Joaquin Toscani in the first minute, Lucas Toscani in the 53rd, Tomas Domene in the 33rd and 45th, and Nicolas Della Torre in the sixth.
Sukhjeet Singh scored twice for the Indian squad (10th, 58th), and Hardik Singh scored an Indian penalty in the final minute.
India will now compete for seventh or eighth place in the pool after this loss, which left them in fourth place with nil points from three games.
India needed to win by at least two goals to keep their semifinal hopes alive, but Argentina put them under pressure from the start, scoring in the 39th second. Toscani received the ball on the right and hit it into the net, giving Indian goalkeeper Mohit HS no chance.
In the third minute, Jarmanpreet Singh's mistake inside the circle gifted Argentina their first penalty corner. Mohit brilliantly kept out Tomas Domene's flick before the Indian defenders cleared the danger.
Argentina doubled their lead in the sixth minute. The ball deflected off an Argentine striker's stick and struck Yashdeep, earning them another penalty corner, which Nicolas converted to put his side firmly in control.
India responded with greater urgency after conceding twice and pulled one back four minutes later through Sukhjeet. Abhishek set him up from outside the left side of the circle, and Sukhjeet fired a powerful diagonal shot into the net.
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Argentina came close to scoring again in the 15th minute when Ibarra Ignacio took the ball and passed it to Ruiz Tomas, who then passed it to Toscani, but this time Mohit managed to block the shot.
The score was 2-1 after the first 15 minutes. Neither team scored in the second quarter. Although India created some chances, their own mistakes prevented them from finishing.
In the 20th minute, Hardik ran down the left flank and crossed the ball inside the 'D' to Harmanpreet, who had already advanced and failed to intercept it.
Four minutes later, Harmanpreet snatched the ball from the Argentine players in midfield and passed it to Dilpreet for a possible counterattack, but he failed to trap it, giving India another missed opportunity.
Argentina also started the third quarter aggressively and earned a penalty corner in the very first minute, but Nicolas' attempt was thwarted by the Indian goalkeeper. The Argentines demanded another penalty corner, but it was denied after a referral.
Argentina scored their third goal thanks to yet another error by the Indian defence. Through an unorganised Indian team, Domene scored his eighth goal of the competition in the 33rd minute with a reverse hit. He overtook Indian skipper Harmanpreet, who had six goals during the competition.
In the following minute, India was awarded four straight penalty corners. The ball struck a defender's foot after Harmanpreet's initial attempt was blocked, creating another penalty corner.
The first rusher clashed with the ball, resulting in the following two penalty corners. On the fourth, Harmanpreet tried a drag flick, but the ball bounced high and flew past the goal.
In the 37th minute, Yashdeep passed the ball from the right flank to Dilpreet inside the circle, giving India another opportunity to score. Dilpreet tried hard but fell short.
In the 40th minute, Harmanpreet's flick struck Sukhjeet's stick, giving India a penalty corner. India lost the referral despite Harmanpreet's review for a foul.
Domene approached the Indian goal one more time four minutes later, but the Indian goalkeeper stood strong and stopped both the first shot and the rebound.
The Indian defenders kept making errors, which led to a penalty stroke this time. Domene scored his seventh goal of the competition from the spot after the ball struck Yashdeep within the circle.
Lucas scored Argentina's fifth goal after picking up the ball inside the circle and finding space to slot it into the net with a reverse hit, leaving three Indian defenders stunned.
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Four minutes before the hooter, India scored their sixth penalty corner, but Harmanpreet failed once more. Sukhjeet then scored a fantastic field goal in the 58th minute following an assist from Mandeep Singh. Hardik converted a penalty stroke one minute later.
India's next major assignment will be the Asian Games, scheduled to take place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, next month, where the team will aim to win the gold medal.
(With PTI inputs.)
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