India got a close up display on how to come up with a clinical performance at the hands of the Netherlands.
In front of a packed Wagener Stadion, Netherlands sealed its place in the semifinal of the World Cup with a 3-1 win, pushing India to the brink of elimination here on Saturday. Argentina got the better of England 3-1 later in the day to boost its qualification chances. Requiring a win, India put up a spirited fight, getting its tactics spot on to make the home side work hard, but familiar troubles in field play plagued Craig Fulton’s men. But the Dutch, picked apart India with three field goals, two of them coming from devastating counter-attacks. Of the four matches in the tournament, this was India’s best start. Fulton’s side was sharper on the ball, controlling possession, not allowing the Dutch to play their flick passing game. Seconds later, the Netherlands turned defence into attack with three passes. Tjep Hoedemakers deflected the ball into the goal from a fierce Koen Bijen slapshot into the circle. India responded immediately through Harmanpreet, finding the left bottom corner with his side’s sixth and final PC to halve the deficit.
Placed last, India needs to beat Argentina by a margin of four goals or more in its final Pool E match on Monday and hope that the Dutch defeat England on the same day.