A below-par show against debutants Wales denying them a direct quarterfinal berth, hosts India would look to address their attacking woes against a plucky New Zealand for a place in the last-eight stage of the FIH Men's Hockey World Cup on Sunday. (More Hockey News | FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2023)
India needed to beat Wales -- eight places below them in world rankings -- by a margin of eight goals to top Pool D and qualify directly for the quarterfinals but the home side could only notch up a 4-2 win ๊on Thursday, as the fo🐼rwards lacked in finishing.
India are now up against New Zealand in the must-win crossover match. The Bla💯ck Sticks finished third in Pool C with a win and two losses.
Currently ranked 12th in the world as against India's sixth position, New Zealand -🧸- who have never reached the s𒁏emifinals -- have also not done anything extraordinary in the tournament and the home side definitely would start as favourites in front of an expected jampacked Kalinga Stadium.
India's key midfielder Hardik Singh has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournamen🌳t after he failed to reco👍ver from his hamstring injury sustained in the match against England on January 15.
Hardik's absence will be a big setback for India as⭕ they have been struggling in the attacking department, and considering the fact that they are expected to run into defending champions Belgium in the quarterfinals if they beat New Zeala🍸nd.
Hardik, who scor✨ed a brilliant solo goal in India's 2-0 win over Spain in the opening match, will be replaced by alternate player Raj Kumar Pal. He did not play against Wales.
Against a Wales tꦿeam whom England and Spain had beaten 5-0 and 5-1, the Indians struggled to find goals as the forwards put up a poor show.
The Indians simply failed to get their strategy right against Wales, who defended in numbers inside their own ci🐎rcle.
The Indian defence, which had a clean she🤡et till then, conceded two goals agaﷺinst Wales, who are ranked 14th in the world.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored his and the team's first goal from penalty corners, while the experienced Akashdeep Singh saved India by scoring twice afte🍬r Wales made it 2-2 at the end 💛of the third quarter.
In the absence of Hardik, tꦕhe performance of senior players like Mandeep Singh and Akashdeep will be key for the hosts.
India, noღ doubt, would start as favourites against New Zealand, but the Black Sticks will not be an eas♒y side to beat.
Indi🎃a had beaten them twice (4-3 and 7-4) in October-November last year during the FIH Pro League at the same stadium here but New Zealand are no pushover🦩s in world hockey.
"It will not be an easy match against New Zealand. It was a very tough match in the first game (in FIH Pro League) though the second one was a 🔜bit easier. We have to play our best," Reid h🦋ad said.
Historically, the two sides had played 44 mat♎ches against each other and India had won 24 of them while losing 15. Five games were drawn. The last time New Zealand beat India was a 2-1 win in 2019.
New Zealand would be smarting after their 2-3 loss to Malaysia in their final Pool C match on Thursday. They had beaten tournament debutants Chile 3-1 in their opening game before expectꦰedly losing to Netherlands 0-4.
New Zealand have some genuinely world class players in their ranks and the Indians will have to pl🙈ay their best.
Defender Blair Tarrant, defensive midfielder Nick Ross and veteran striker Simon Child are New Zealand's key players. Penalty corner expert Kane Russell is yet to sound the board so far and would be gunning for 🍸goals.
Sam Lana and Sam Hiha have scored two goals each in the tournament and they would look to add more.
The Squads (from):
India: Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Abhishek, Surender Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Mandeep𝔍 Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Krishan Pathak, Niꦦlam Sanjeep Xess, PR Sreejesh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Akashdeep Singh, Amit Rohidas, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sukhjeet Singh.
New Zealand: Nic Woods (captain), Dom Dixon, Dane Lett, Simon Child, Nick Ross, Sam Hiha, Kim Kingston, Jake Smith, Sam🔴 Lane, Simon Yorston, Aidan Sarikaya, Joe Morrison, Leon Hayward, Kane Russell, Blair Tarrant, Sean Findlay, Hayden Phillips, Charlie Morrison.
Match Starts at 7pm IST.
