BHUBANESWAR : When the dust settles, the match will be remembered for how The Netherlands refocused on their own principles to outwit India. The first two stanzas had witnessed a frenetic game, high on running but low on skill and attacking flair because the defenders of both sides retained their structural integrity at the base of their own D. This translated to a paucity of clear-cut chances and circle penetrations for both teams.
For a team like Oranje, who pride themselves on circle entries, this was a no-no. Their half-time team talk was all about how to pull the Indian defenders away. Coach Max Caldas had the solution and he conveyed the same to his water-carriers in defence and midfield. “We actually spoke about holding the ball for longer,” he said. “The first-half, we played a running game when we wanted to play a passing game. We didn’t sacrifice our speed of the game but we changed the way we built our attacks. We spoke about holding on to the ball a bit more longer and make them chase the game.”
The finalists from four years ago also decided to press and put pressure on the hosts. This potent combination of holding on to the ball and pressing earned them their fourth penalty corner and, ultimately, the winner. After Seve van Ass hunted down a loose Chinglensana Singh pass, the midfielder, rather than just aimlessly driving into the pass, decided to look up and see his options.
When no player made a run, he decided to dribble his way through substantial traffic in the hope that he could slice through the defense. Which is what happened after he nutmegged Hardik Singh. He ran into real estate before a body check brought him tumbling down. The result was a penalty corner, an offering Mink van der Weerden wasn’t going to turn down.After the match, captain Billy Bakker spoke about how they knew an inexperienced Indian team — seven of the 18 had featured at the Junior World Cup in 2016 — could be prone to losing their position. “Good positioning is one of the really important things to win games,” he said. “India have a lot of young players, a lot of potential but they are also vulnerable...”
That ability to change the course of the game also brought to light the experience they have. While several members of the Indian squad had just exited their teens, six of the Dutch squad are into their 30s. It showed on the turf as they kept their cool and did not lose their heads. Their reaction to an Indian opener was to restore parity within three minutes — forward Jeroen Hertberger referenced this as the turning point when he said a quarter ‘was 15 minutes and not 14 minutes and 55 seconds.’
They also didn’t try to do anything too extravagant after their goal. Their main focus after scoring was to starve India of possession in key areas which they accomplished with minimum fuss. The stats back this out — India had 67 per cent possession in the fourth stanza but only three circle entries, compared to the six made by the Dutch in that time.It was as if The Netherlands had enough belief in what they were doing and what they were asked to do. For the hosts, though, it’s a familiar story of hope followed by inevitable heartache.