India to take on reigning champions Germany

Against Germany, India held their nerve at the FIH Champions Trophy where they had an early lead of 3-1 until the third quarter but a few defensive errors in the last quarter had forced a draw. It was an inspired performance by the Indian team though Germany was not playing its full squad in London. The Olympic Games is different and India will have to go all-out, giving more than their 100 percent to get past Germany and stamp a victory. 

“I have studied them in Champions Trophy and they are a very strong team. But I do see some opportunities in the game for us and to execute it, we will have to give more than our 100 percent,” stated Chief Coach Roelant Oltmans post the opening match victory on Saturday.He also insisted on going back and watching the video of the match against Ireland on Saturday to take learnings from the game and ensure the team is ready for the German side that beat Canada 6-2 in their opening game on Saturday. 

“A win is a win and I don’t wish to talk about the mistakes. We had tweaked the team’s structure a bit to counter the Irishmen. I am happy the boys stuck to the plan and executed it. Playing Germany will be different and we will need a different game plan,” Oltmans said. However, India’s campaign against them did not go as planned in the recently held Six Nations Tournament in Valencia, Spain, where the team lost 0-4 to a full strength German squad. 

India last won a match against Germany in the Olympics in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games where the Indian team beat them 3-0 in the opening match. In Sydney and Athens, India never played the Germans as they figured in different pools however in 2012 London Olympics, Germany beat India 5-2.