Late goal by Harmanpreet helps India hold Argentina to a crucial 1-1 draw

Paris, July 29: Indian Men’s Hockey Team skipper Harmanpreet Singh came up with a late goal to help his team hold Argentina 1-1 in their pool B match of the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium on Monday.

It was Lucas Martinez (22’) who had put Argentina in the lead early on. Coming into the match with the confidence of winning their opening game 3-2 against New Zealand, India looked dominant in the first quarter, with bursts of attack by young Indian forwards but breaking the Argentine deadlock was a struggle. Meanwhile, Argentina, which had lost their previous match to Australia 0-1, looked more determined to put India under the pump right from the starting hooter.

India made a breakthrough in the 10th minute, thanks to Mandeep Singh winning a PC. With Harmanpreet subbed out Sanjay led the PC attack but missed to capitalize from the dragflick. In the following minutes, Abhishek took an ambitious shot on goal but the ball hit the crossbar, missing out on an early lead narrowly.

After a goalless first quarter, India began the second quarter with back-to-back PCs in the 19th minute but Argentina goalie Santiago did well to keep India’s Captain from scoring. Unfortunately for India, there was no such luck when Lucas Martinez attempted a goal in the 22nd minute. Making space in the circle, beating defender Harmanpreet, Martinez was successful in finding the net despite a diving effort by Sreejesh. Though India came up with some potential moves in this quarter to equalise, the Argentine backline was resolute throughout.