Netherlands’ Koen Bijen, right, and India’s Amit Rohidas fight for possession.
| Photo Credit: AFP
India got a close up display on how to come up with a clinical performance at the hands of the Netherlands.
With six minutes to go, Manpreet Singh dawdled on the ball allowing Jorrit Croon to rob the ball and slip in Thijs van Dam. The forward flicked it over Mohith H.S., controlled it on the run, before slapping the ball into the net to finish off India in style..
In front of a packed Wagener Stadion, Netherlands sealed its place in the semifinal of the World Cup with a 3-1 win, pushing India to the brink of elimination here on Saturday. Argentina got the better of England 3-1 later in the day to boost its qualification chances.
Placed last, India needs to beat Argentina by a margin of four goals or more in its final Pool E match on Monday and hope that the Dutch defeat England on the same day.
Requiring a win, India put up a spirited fight, getting its tactics spot on to make the home side work hard, but familiar troubles in field play plagued Craig Fulton’s men. But the Dutch, picked apart India with three field goals, two of them coming from devastating counter-attacks.
Of the four matches in the tournament, this was India’s best start. Fulton’s side was sharper on the ball, controlling possession, not allowing the Dutch to play their flick passing game.
However, India, too, didn’t find space in the circle, struggling to find the right connections in field play. Dilpreet Singh came close but his deflected effort was booted away by Derk Meijer.
After trading blows again in the third quarter, the Dutch found momentum, before taking the lead. From a loose ball in the circle, Tijmen Rayenga’s shot-cum-pass was flicked in past Suraj Karkera by Duco Telgenkamp.
Chasing the equaliser, Harmanpreet Singh and Sanjay, unable to bypass the Netherlands press, were exchanging passes at the halfway line before the latter tried to force the initiative with a fizzed-in pass but went out of bounds.
Seconds later, the Netherlands turned defence into attack with three passes. Tjep Hoedemakers deflected the ball into the goal from a fierce Koen Bijen slapshot into the circle.
India responded immediately through Harmanpreet, finding the left bottom corner with his side’s sixth and final PC to halve the deficit.
But India’s hopes of a comeback were extinguished when Manpreet’s error was punished by van Dam.
The result: Netherlands 3 (Telgenkamp 40, Hoedemakers 50, van Dam 54) bt India 1 (Harmanpreet 51-pc).
Published – August 23, 2026 12:08 am IST
