BHUBANESWAR: An astonishing 70 goals were scored on the second day of action at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021, with Spain setting a new record for goals scored at the event in a single match as the European side put 17 goals past the USA. The previous record was a 13-0 victory for India against Singapore at the 1982 Junior World Cup.
Wins were recorded by Argentina, Netherlands, Spain, France and India, and an incredible display of attacking hockey in all five matches meaning no match saw fewer than eight goals rattling home, with the highest scoring matches seeing 17 goals scored.
Canada 1-13 India (Pool B)
India bounced back from their loss at the hands of France to defeat Canada in a strong display of attacking play and clinical finishing. Despite Canada’s best efforts, India pushed and probed and then exploited the gaps that they created in the Canadian defence.
The scoring opened with a goal from Uttam Singh, who later limped off with an ankle injury. The goals then came in a steady flow, with India keeping the pressure high until the final whistle. Both Sanjay and Player of the Match Hundal Singh scored hat tricks. Canada did rally on the stroke of half-time through a well-taken penalty corner from Chris Tardif but they were chasing shadows for much of the 60 minutes.
India bounced back from their loss at the hands of France to defeat Canada in a strong display of attacking play and clinical finishing. Despite Canada’s best efforts, India pushed and probed and then exploited the gaps that they created in the Canadian defence.
The scoring opened with a goal from Uttam Singh, who later limped off with an ankle injury. The goals then came in a steady flow, with India keeping the pressure high until the final whistle. Both Sanjay and Player of the Match Hundal Singh scored hat tricks. Canada did rally on the stroke of half-time through a well-taken penalty corner from Chris Tardif but they were chasing shadows for much of the 60 minutes.
Struggling to make himself heard over the excitement following their win, Hundal: “We knew we had to come back and have a good performance today. For the next match [against Poland] it is all about building on this performance.”
Canada’s captain Manveer Jhamat said: “It was an amazing game, unfortunately it was not the result we were after. It was a hard fought game and the guys worked right until the end. We were just unfortunate in the D at either end. For the next game, we will compete in the same way and we will move on from this. For every single game we prepare and we will be fully ready for the next game.”
Argentina 14-0 Egypt (Pool D)
Argentina got their Junior World Cup campaign off to a flying start when they netted 14 times against a determined but error-prone Egypt.
Los Leoncitas captain Facundo Zarate started and finished the goal-fest with a well-taken penalty corner in the third minute of the game and a calm penalty stroke in the 58th minute. What followed was a clinical display of goal scoring as Argentina showed their quality with elegant, free-flowing passing and a wide variation of goal scoring and 10 different names on the score-sheet.
Coach Lucas Rey will be pleased with his team’s performance but will also be wary of the tougher test his team will face in their next encounter with Germany.
A happy Facundo Zarate speaking after the match, said: “We are very happy with the result. We trained a lot to be here and achieve such a result. We stayed very focused during the entire match. For the next match, we know that Germany is a very tough opponent. So, we will be there, ready to play against them and we will see how it will be going.”
“We made a lot of mistakes with passes, but we learnt a lot in this game, ” said Egypt’s Khaled Elgandy. “But we kept fighting until the last minute. We will look at our performance in details and try to do better in the next match. We came here to do our best.”
Netherlands 12-5 Korea (Pool C)
While the Netherlands will be happy to have started with a win and to have scored an impressive 12 goals, Head Coach Michiel van der Struijk will be concerned at the defensive errors that allowed Korea to score five times in response.
In Miles Bukkens, the Netherlands have found a goal-scoring supremo. The forward showed speed, flair and awareness to score five goals. However, teams will also be watching the penalty corner proficiency of Jeong Jun Seong of Korea who was unerring as he sent the ball past Flip Wijsman three times.
Five goal hero Miles Bukkens said: “We played a good game but several times we got a corner against us. They scored four penalty-corners, I think, so that’s bad and we can work on it. As to me scoring five goals, I like it. That gives me some confidence, which is perfect. Before the next match, we will rest because it was hot today, drink a lot and regroup with our team.”
Spain 17-0 USA (Pool C)
Argentina may well have thought they had posted the top score of the day, but Spain had other ideas. USA held the European side at bay for seven minutes but then the floodgates opened. Manuel Rodriguez scored twice in the opening quarter, Guillermo Fortuno scored twice in the final minute of the game and another 13 goals were scored in between.
USA worked hard throughout but they were no match for the slick passing and speed of decision-making displayed by the Junior EuroHockey champions.
Gerard Clapes scored four goals for Spain. he said: “I’m very proud of the team. We played as a team. We have good feelings for the next match against the Netherlands, which is very important. As we all know they are a very, very good team, and it will be very difficult. But it’s very important to win to ensure our path into the quarter finals and, if possible, to reach the first place of the group.”
USA captain Jatin Sharma spoke about the nerves that had struck his team as they took to the field: “I think coming out in the first quarter a lot of us were playing a bit with their nerves. That can happen, we all know that. Tonight, we will rewatch the game, talk about what we need to do better, get feedback from our coaches and implement that tomorrow.”
France 7-1 Poland (Pool B)
France continued their sparkling start to the competition with another energetic performance that put them firmly at the top of Pool B. Despite the scoreline this wasn’t a walkover as Poland defended hard and created their own chances. But France brought with them the confidence that the previous day’s victory over the host nation India had given them and they were strong and composed from the first whistle.
The opening goal was within a minute of the start and a 3-0 cushion before the end of the first quarter effectively put the game beyond Poland’s reach.
Corentin Sellier scored three goals for France, adding to the one he scored against India the previous day. Reflecting on the match against Poland he said: “It was important for us to be focused on this game, to put some intensity and play a good match. I’m really happy with our performance so far, both for the team and for myself. We want to continue in this competition and we will now focus on the next game.”
It was a sanguine reaction from Poland’s Head Coach Jacek Adrian: “I said to my guys: ‘Well done!’. Because they tried in the second half to do something, to score more goals. It was a tough match for us. France is a very strong team. But we tried to show that we can play quite good hockey. Maybe not enough to win this match, but good. India is a special country for me. I used to be a national player and I came here six times. Lovely country, lovely food!