In the end, it was not meant to be. In the end, it took a bit of a magic from Germany's Lisa Nolte in sudden death to send Germany through to the final of the FIH Women's Hockey Olympic Qualifiers and also book their tickets to the Paris Olympics. Savita Punia, India's captain, and goalkeeper extraordinaire, did her best to come up with two fantastic saves in the shootout, but even a goalkeeper of her calibre couldn't have much to save the shot from Nolte. Under extreme pressure, Nolte produced a moment of brilliance, with her back facing Savita, she calmly flicked the ball through her and the goalkeeper's legs.
Watch the moment as Lisa Nolte displays nerves of steel to take Germany past India in the semi-final of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in Ranchi, sending Germany to the Olympic Games #Paris2024.
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- International Hockey Federation (@FIH_Hockey) January 18, 2024
It was a game that both teams will feel they didn't deserve to lose. Germany were the superior team on the ball, but India's defence withstood all that pressure and scored at the death to take the match to penalty shootout. In fact, the home team started the match really well. They scored from their very first penalty corner as Deepika beating the goalkeeper with a low shot. As the match progressed, Germany upped their intensity and eventually found the equaliser through Charlotte Stapenhorst. The German forward showed terrific skill to control the ball inside the circle, beat Udita on the turn and slotted it past Savita.
Stapenhorst was the best player on the pitch -- she was causing all kinds of trouble inside the circle with her movement, control and special 3D skills. In the second half, Germany constantly threatened by entering the circle, but India did well not to commit any mistakes. Nikki Pradhan deserves a mention for her work in the backline and India's deep defending did not make it easy for Germany. But the second goal eventually came from Germany with three minutes left on the clock, probably a deserving one considering they were dominating the proceedings. Stapenhorst, with her dash, snatched the ball from Sonika and finished with a powerful hit.
Two minutes later, with a minute to go to the final hooter, India found the equaliser. India took a referral for a German foot inside the circle and got the penalty corner. They went for a variation, Udita's initial shot was saved but Germans failed to clear the ball, and the rebound went to Ishika Chaudhary who found the net with a clutch hit.
Savita, no stranger to penalty shootouts in big matches, pulled off two good saves and Lalremsiami kept India's hope alive to score from her chance. Sonika missed her chance from sudden death and then Nolte finished the job
All's not lost for India
Nevertheless, India will take a huge bout of confidence from their performance into the all-important third-place playoff against Japan, who lost their semifinal against the USA. Their Olympic dream is alive because the top three teams qualify for the Paris Games and importantly, they clicked as a unit against the Germans.
The most significant aspect of this semifinal was that India's midfielders and attackers had a really good game: the likes of Sangita, Deepika, Neha, Vaishnavi and Jyothi stepped up and showed improvements with their off the ball play. Their zonal defending was spot on, and they forced mistakes from Germany with their pressing. It was a game where Salima Tete was not at her best, and in fact committed a couple of uncharacteristic errors, but unlike before that did not affect India's performance.
The challenge now is to recover in less than 24 hours for the game against Japan. The semifinal was a grueling affair so right recovery is important. The good news is that India have also beaten Japan in a couple of big matches recently. They clinched the bronze medal at the Asian Games last year with a 2-1 win. A few months later, India and Japan met twice at the Asian Champions Trophy and both times Savita's team won the matches. The second victory was in the final where they beat Japan 4-0.
It's not going to be easy, but there's hope. Now, Janneke Schopman will hope that there's one more good game left in her players.