India crash to another defeat, a step near to finish last

Monchengladbach, Sep 16 (UNI) There was no let up in setbacks for a comatose Indian hockey with the team crashing to their fifth defeat in the World Cup and thanks to the 2-3 debacle against Argentina today, they are now a step near to finish last in the tournament.

Since winning Bronze (1971), Silver (1973) and Gold (1975) in the first three editions, India's has been a story of steady decline in World Cup. In the subsequent editions, they finished sixth (1978), fifth (1982), 12th (1986), 10th (1990), fifth (1994) and ninth (1998) and 10th (2002).

India, despite leading 1-0 at half time today, failed to hold on to the lead, conceded three goals in the second half to lose the game and will now play against South Africa for 11/12th place tomorrow.

For Argentina, Damian Matias Vila scored two goals in the 40th and 62nd minutes while Enrique Matias Paredes chipped in with one in the 52nd minute.

For the losers, Arjun Halappa scored in the third minute and Rajpal Singh deflected a goal in the 54th.

It was yet another error-prone display by the Indians, who failed to learn from their mistakes and conceded seven penalty corners, two of which resulted in goals.

''I have no excuses to offer,'' said a visibly upset coach Vasudevan Bhasakaran.

''The boys keep on repeating the mistakes. They just simply are not learning,'' he added.

It was for the first time in the tournament that the coach did not support the players as he has been doing so far.

''What can I do If they keep repeating mistakes? I have told them time and again but they seem not to be learning,'' he rued.

It was the match which Indians should have won at least for the sake of reputation and the fans who had come all over from the globe to cheer them.

The Indians took the lead in the third minute through Arjun Halappa but failed to consolidate it despite dominating the first half. Once Rajpal Singh's shot from inside the circle hit the post and then Tushar Khandekar hit straight into the goalkeeper.

The Indians took the field without Gagan ajit Singh and Tejbir Singh, both of whom were sick, but their absence made no difference and they failed to win their first match on the penultimate day of the tournament.

Argentina were mostly on the defensive but did make some stray raids which fetched them three penalty corners in the first session.

Of these, they muffed two and one was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Bharat Chettri.

Five minutes into the second session, Argentina forced their fourth penalty corner and this time Damien Matias sent the ball home off a rebound (1-1).

Six minutes later the Latin American went ahead when Enrique Matias Paredes scored off the fifth penalty corner. However, the Indians managed to draw parity witin three minutes when Rajpal Singh deflected a cross from Arjun Halappa.

India had a chance to go up but Raghunath's flick was saved by the goalkeeper. In the 62nd minute, Argentina took the winning lead when Damian Matias scored off a penalty corner (3-2).

The Indians looked a defeated side. Their body language gave it all and it looked as they were just going through the motion to complete the formalties which they did with another defeat.

UNI HSB AY VV1851