India has progressed to the quarter-finals of the men’s Pool A hockey match against defending champions Argentina by the score of 3-1 to reserve their spot at number two of group A at the Tokyo Olympics.
Dominated the defending champions and how! 👏#IND have earned another 2 points in the Pool rankings by beating #ARG with an impressive score of 3-1 🔥
Goal scorers for India: Varun Kumar, Vivek Prasad and Harmanpreet Singh 🙌#Tokyo2020 | #StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion
— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) July 29, 2021
Varun Kumar, Vivek Prasad and Harmanpreet Singh provided their nation with a brilliant victory against the Rio Olympics gold medalists on Thursday.
Good morning from Tokyo! 🇮🇳
Here are some glimpses from #TeamIndia's thumping win against Argentina. 📸#INDvARG #IndiaKaGame #HaiTayyar #Tokyo2020 #TokyoTogether #StrongerTogether #HockeyInvites #WeAreTeamIndia #Hockey pic.twitter.com/G6xFNXUVyI
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) July 29, 2021
Indian at the second position with nine points have their one game left in their hands to play in the group. They could tie the group number one position with Australia with a victory at the final group game which is unlikely because Australians have a +13 goal difference currently contradicted to India’s zero. They had defeated India with a high score of 7-1 in the second group stage fixture.
India started with domination possession all over the first half with 60% of ball possession and 16 circle penetration.
Sreejesh managed to not let the opponents lead when he denied the one-man counter-attack with Matias Rey. After few moments, India earned a PC to which Varun Kumar without a mistake turned it into their first goal of the game and provided his side with a lead.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Argentina scored an equaliser through Maico Casella’s strike from their first penalty corner at 47th minute but it didn’t last long as Vivek Prasad scored his first goal at the Olympics to double the scoreline for his side with just two minutes left in the game at 58th minute.
While the Rio Olympics gold medalists were down to 1-2, Harmanpreet Singh hit another at 59th minute converting the penalty corner into a late goal to seize a 3-1 victory over Argentina.
