Pro League: India ends home-leg with another loss

India ends home-leg with another loss

India ended its home assignments for the year with a fourth defeat on the trot, going down to Argentina 2-4 in the FIH Pro League on Sunday.

The host could have ended with a bigger humiliation if not for several strokes of luck and an opponent unwilling to push more than needed.

Even a 19,000-strong cheering crowd could not prevent the Indians from going winless at a venue that till now had been an unconquered fortress.

The only positives were that India, for the first time in four games, did not concede a goal in the first quarter and the forwards made repeated forays into the Argentine circle.

Neither of it mattered. The entries were ineffective with no shots on goal or penalty corners earned.

The deadlock was broken in the 18th minute when Tomas Domene converted a penalty corner. Argentina, in fact, dominated almost the entire match, had more attempts on target, and came close to scoring on multiple occasions in the first 15 minutes but were denied twice by the post, some good goalkeeping and an extra ball on field.