Spain fire on all cylinders as India suffer ignition trouble

LAHORE, Dec 4 (UNI): India came out with a pathetic and shameful performance in their opening match as Olympic semi-finalists Spain inflicted a humiliating 4-0 defeat on them at the 26th Men's Champions Trophy hockey tournament here today.

The performance also exposed the myth of a resurgent and young team capable of delivering at the international level and reverse the perennial problem of conceding the match in the late stages.

Spain struck three goals (60th, 63rd and 64th minutes) within five minutes and a goal earlier to spoil the Indian party 4-0.

It was quite an embarrassment to see a listless bunch of 11 who simply refused to fire and put up any credible show against the same opponent whom they managed to hold on to a 1-1 series draw in Chandigarh earlier this week.

"We really played very badly and could not put up any fight.

There was not much coordination between the defence and midfield.

Hopefully we will comeback in the next match against Holland tomorrow," said Indian captain Dilip Tirkey after the match.

Coach Gerhard Rach was also disappointed with the outcome of the match.

"Yes, the boys did not really put up the show they are capable of.

I am hopeful, they will pick their game with the progress of the tournament," he observed.

Both teams started slowly and the first half was marked by frequent mispasses and predominantly a defensive game.

Spain had a few chances and put constant pressure on India's defence.

At the breather, the two teams were goalless (0-0).

Spain pulled their game two notches up in the second half and unleashed a reign of attacks and it was virtually mayhem at the Indian half.

The Olympics semi-finalists opened the scoring through Alex Fabregas who received a freehit from the mid-field, did a nice turn and tapped the ball in 1-0 in the 43rd minute of the match.

Spain increased their lead through Eduard Arbos who beat three Indians, Sandeep Singh, Dilip Tirkey and William Xalco by pace and nicely put the ball home 2-0 in the 60th minute.

Spain took the match way from India three minutes later when Santiago Freixa neatly struck a penalty after Viren Rasquinha fouled inside the D.

Barely a minute after, the fourth goal came for the Spanish team when their captain Juan Escarre tapped a freehit, waited and finally came out with a brilliant deflection to seal the fate of the match in Sapin's favour 4-0.