This story is from December 10, 2014

Champions Trophy: India stun Netherlands for first victory

Days like these make it difficult not to romanticize about sports. On a day when no one expected India to win, they shocked world No. 2 Netherlands at the Champions Trophy on Tuesday.
Champions Trophy: India stun Netherlands for first victory
Days like these make it difficult not to romanticize about sports. On a day when no one expected India to win, they shocked world No. 2 Netherlands at the Champions Trophy on Tuesday.
BHUBANESWAR: Days like these make it difficult not to romanticize about sports. On a day when no one expected India to win, they shocked world No. 2 Netherlands at the Champions Trophy on Tuesday.
Schedule & Results | Points Table | Match in Pics
Even the Australian players and team officials were left in awe as Sardar & Co won their last group match 3-2 at Kalinga Stadium. It's their first win against the Dutch in 18 years in any tournament and their first since 1986 in the Champions Trophy.

With this victory, India finished third in Group B and will face Belgium in the quarterfinals on Thursday. In the other last-eight matches, England will face Germany, Netherlands will take on Pakistan and Australia will play Argentina.
SV Sunil opened the scoring for the hosts three minutes into the third quarter to send the packed stadium into frenzy. Gurjinder Singh, who scored in the last match against Argentina, slapped the ball hard towards Sunil and he made no mistake deflecting it into the net.
But their joy was short-lived as the Dutch equalized two minutes later from the penalty corner. It was their third penalty corner of the night and Mink van der Weerden slammed the ball into the top-right corner of the net giving no chance to Harjot Singh.

However, India again took the lead two minutes into the fourth quarter and this time it was none other than Manpreet Singh. The young midfielder scored from the rebound after Dutch goalkeeper Primin Blaak twice kept out Danish Mujtaba's shot.

Indian captain Sardar Singh blocks the Netherlands' Sander Baart during their Champions Trophy match at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. (AFP Photo)
The hosts did not stop there and made it 3-1 two minutes later after Rupinder Pal Singh converted their third penalty corner of the match.
But more drama awaited the crowd as Netherlands reduced the lead with two minutes left on the clock. It was Mink's second goal and like the first one this also came from the penalty corner. They kept pushing hard for the equalizer but that wasn't to be as India posted their first victory of this edition of the Champions Trophy.
Unlike the last two matches against Argentina and Germany, the team as a whole played much better on Tuesday night. They were the better team for most of the first and the second quarter. Even towards the end, the defence held it together and did not allow Netherlands to take advantage.
Earlier, Netherlands began the match putting a lot of pressure on the Indian defence and they came close scoring on a few occasions. But it was India who created the best chance in the first quarter when Uthappa made a beautiful run through the midfield and passed it to Akashdeep inside the D.
He slapped it hard towards the goal but the ball took a deflection and did little to trouble goalkeeper.
Towards the end of the first quarter though, Rupinder made a huge lapse in defence that allowed Sander de Wijn to come dangerously close to scoring. Not only in the first quarter, Rupinder's terrible form continued in the second quarter also but fortunately the Dutch weren't able to score from either of his lapses. Either the other defenders made up for him or it was goalkeeper PR Sreejesh who made the final save.
Like the first two matches, Ramandeep was again disappointing at times but he did win India's first penalty corner of the match. But the hosts weren't able to convert it after Manpreet Singh failed to trap the push. Late in the second quarter, Akashdeep also had a great chance but his shot went wide of the net.
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