The Indian women’s hockey team faced a massive blow as they were defeated by Argentina 0-5 at the beginning of the European session of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24. Agustina Gorzelany in the 13th minute, Valentina Raposo in the 24th, Victoria Miranda in the 41st, and finally, Julieta Jankunas netting two goals in the 53rd and 59th minute provided a perfect lesson in goal scoring thus handing an emphatic victory to the South American side.
The match started with India focusing on gaining the possessiveness of the ball and setting the pace of the game. However, Argentina was quick off the block and applied constant pressure which earned them multiple penalty corners. Indian goalkeeper Bichu Devi Kharibam put up a brilliant show and despite her best efforts, Argentine stick work continued to pressure for a goal, and in the 13th minute Gorzelany scored a penalty corner goal.
In the second period, India began to look to get the equalizer, and their approach became more aggressive, but the defenses of Argentina were solid. Raposo increased the Argentine advantage further to 2-0 in the 24th minute, a neat move for the penalty corner where Sofia Toccalino set up a good variation before Raposo fired home with a firm shot.
The third period was continued and marked for India improving and challenging Argentina’s defense with persistent pressure and virtually wasted opportunities. Nevertheless, Argentina made good use of the advantage and within the second half, Miranda made it 3-0 in the 41st minute after a beautiful dribbling and a powerful shot above the bar.
In the last ten minutes, Indian players concentrated on capturing the ball and going for the PC penetrations while Deepika almost got on the scoreboard. However, the move of Argentina towards counter-attacking maneuvers was able to work in their favor. Jankunas scored for the first time in the 53rd minute using a top-gun effect and the second time in the 59th minute sealing Argentina’s victory by a 5-0 margin.
The Indian hockey team is now scheduled to play against Belgium on Thursday where they will surely be looking forward to redeeming themselves after this loss.
