India captain Savita stood teary-eyed in the middle of the field with fellow goalkeeper Bichu Devi as Germany booked a spot in the final of the Olympic Qualifiers and a ticket to Paris with a 4-3 win in sudden-death after being tied 2-2 in regulation time in the semifinals on Thursday.
Starting as the underdog against a team that has made it to every Olympics since its debut in 1984 and everything, including track record and rankings against it, India put up a gallant fight before going down.
It will now play Japan in a must-win game for the third spot as the last remaining Olympic spot is at stake. USA won 2-1 against Japan in the other semifinal.
Though India had more possession, Germany dominated the exchanges. The host’s speed and attacking play, the highlight in the last two games, was missing.
A penalty corner (PC) in the final minute of the first quarter saw Deepika strike past Julia Sontag and put India ahead. Instead of building on it, the Indian team went on the defensive, allowing the Germans the space to keep pressing hard.
For the next 30 minutes, the game was largely restricted to India’s half as Germany kept pushing for an equaliser. India’s defence stood firm against a German side that barely allowed breathing space. Relying only on free hits and individual skills to move ahead, the Indian attack did not have the cohesion or penetration seen before.
The Indian defence, which had stalled repeated German attacks, was guilty of conceding two goals after failing to mark Charlotte Stapenhorst inside the circle and not providing enough back-up for Savita. The second of those came in the 57th minute and just when it looked like the contest was sealed, Ishika managed to deflect a rebound off India’s third PC in the 59th minute to take the game into shootouts.
It looked going India’s way with Sangita and Sonika scoring and Savita saving two of Germany’s first three shots. But India’s two most experienced players in the shootout — Neha and Navneet — hurried and missed their chances, taking the game to sudden-death. Lisa Nolte struck her second of the night to end India’s hopes.
Earlier in the day, for 50 minutes, Japan seemed to have the game and a final spot in its control before a yellow card to Chico Fujibayashi in the 52nd minute gave USA the numerical advantage. It made the most of it, scoring twice in three minutes to stun the Japanese and return to the Olympics.
In the classification matches for the 5-8 place, New Zealand beat Czech Republic 2-0 with two goals in three minutes while Italy beat Chile in a shootout.
The results:
Semifinals: USA 2 (Ashley Hoffman, Abigail Tamer) bt Japan 1 (Amiru Shimada).
Germany 2 (Charlotte Stapenhorst 2) drew with India 2 (Deepika, Ishika); Germany won in sudden-death.
5-8 place: Italy 2 (Antonella Bruni, Federica Carta) drew with Chile 2 (Francisca Tala, Paula Valdivia); Italy won on penalties.
New Zealand 2 (Samantha Child, Katie Doar) bt Czech Republic 0.
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