HARD TACKLE: India's Shivendra Singh and Germany's Eike Duckwitz in a midfield skirmish in their group B match. — Photo: AP

Monchengladbach : What a start for the hockey World Cup on this warm, sultry afternoon. For the Indians it was so near and yet so far. When a draw looked possible when Germany, defending the World Cup, was struggling to keep the attack in bay, the match winner from Christoph Zeller emerged with only a minute and 40 seconds left in the Pool B encounter at Warstenier Hockey Park. The Germans won 3-2, but India produced a stunning performance in the second half, thanks to two lovely goals by Shivendra Singh. But that could not save the day.

Later in the day, for all the ardour and adeptness displayed, Argentina had to suffer the ignominy of a 0-3 defeat against New Zealand in Pool A. The craft and consistency of attackers Mario Alamada, Lucas Vila and Lucas Camereri were smothered by the Kiwi defence for whom goal-keeper Paul Woolford made quite a few saves.

The man who transformed the trend in favour of the Kiwis was the strapping Hayden Shaw, who converted two penalty corners with panache. His first effort was a beauty to behold, the wristy flick flying to the roof of the net.

The match was preceded by a colourful opening ceremony, somewhat unusual to come off after the opening match.

Failing to cope

Speed was the element that the Indians failed to cope with the home team and holder, Germany. The ambience was absorbing as much as the national anthems that a bunch of school kinds sung to perfection instead of taped music across the microphones that are usually put into use in competitions like these.

There was an understandable emphasis on strengthening the defensive phalanx. And that ploy did work for the major part, although at times, it looked as though the Indians were stretching in that area a bit more than necessary. The repeated inroads made by the German attack led admirably by Christopher Zeller and Matthaus Witthaus more or less compelled pinned the defence to the zone.

Marshalling well the frontline was the seasoned campaigner at the back — Philip Crone. Spraying those astute long passes Crone was the catalyst in maintaining the vibrancy of the frontline sallies. Within a few minutes from the start, we saw an impeccable reverse flick by Christopher Zeller that missed the mark by inches. Although goal-keeper, Adrian D'Souza effected a good save earlier, evidence of pressure building up on the defence was clear as crystal.

While the wing halves, Vinay and Prabhodh were firm in their tackles and passes, the mid-field suffered from a trace of inconsistency. Ignace was not in the best of his elements as did Viren Resquinha. In the frontline, Halappa worked hard but the combination required to overwhelm a strong defence force like Germany was not in place.

Individual sallies

There were a few individual sallies. Arjun Halappa almost made it midway through but did not connect the pass from Dilip Tirkey well enough to cause any discomfort to the German goalkeeper, Bubolz.

The escalating stress on the defence showed out when Germany forced the first penalty corner eight minutes before the breather. A neat drive by Christopher Zeller hoisted the lead for Germany from the penalty corner. Hereabouts, India lost the services of Kanwalpreet Singh for an yellow card suspension and only the Canadian umpire Sumesh Putra seemed to know why this Indian was subjected to this harsh penalty.

A noticeable strain of verve came into the Indian attack which wove patterns around the German defence. Halappa and Shivendra produced a few stunning run-ins and a goal looked imminent. And so it came from the second penalty corner when a shot by Kanwal was stopped by Bubolz. But the rebound caused a skirmish in which Gagan and Arjun made an effort but Shivendra slotted the equaliser.

Brilliant goal

Within minutes Germany hit in the second penalty corner — an indirect conversion by Oliver Hentschl. Disheartened by the outcome, the Indians kept up the pressure and Shivendra scored a brilliant goal in combination with Tushar Khandekar. A draw was very much on the cards when only a miniute and forty second remained but during this period — one remembered the time in Sydney Olympics when the team drew Poland to go out of the semifinal berth — a quick sally from the left by Mattihias Witthaus opened up a way for Christoph Zeller to find the target.

India is in contention to host the next World Cup for men in 2010. Efforts are afoot to achieve a consensus among the influential members of the International Hockey Federation.

A detailed debate may well take place during the next FIH Congress scheduled in London — at the Lord's Cricket Ground — from November 5 to 12.

Quite predictably, a lot of subjects will be debated during the Congress, which is likely to re-elect the Australian representative Peter Cohen as Secretary-General for another term.

Bid for World Juniors too

India's bid is not only for the 12th edition of the World Cup but also for the junior World Championship in 2009. The last edition was held in Rotterdam. The IHF sources are confident that India will win at least one of the two bids, but would prefer to have even both.

While India has never hosted a Junior World Cup, launched in 1979 at Varsailles, it would be second for seniors if the IHF emerges successful in its efforts. India played host to the senior World Cup in 1982 in Bombay, the last time that the event was held in natural grass. The Indian juniors won the Cup at Hobart in 2000.

Eventful year

If indeed India gets the mandate for the senior World Cup, 2010 will then be an eventful year for Indian sports, what with the country gearing up for organising the mammoth Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. It is quite possible that the World Cup be conducted in New Delhi or in any other centre like Chennai or Hyderabad where two artificial pitches are available.

The results: Germany 3 (Christopher Zeller 2, Oliver Hentschel) bt India 2 (Shivendra Singh) H.T. 1-0; New Zealand 2 (Hayden Shaw 2) bt Argentina 0. H.T. 2-0.

Thursday's matches: India v England (5-30 p.m.); Pakistan v Japan (7-30 p.m.); Australia v Spain (9-30 p.m.); Netherlands v South Africa (11-45 p.m. IST).

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