New Delhi, March 19 (Prensa Latina) India’s men’s field hockey team lost today in a penalty shootout against Argentina in the first leg of the FIH Pro League at the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar.
The Men in Blue thus conceded their third defeat of the league, after both teams tied 2-2 at the end of regulation time, in a challenge played at a fast pace.
Gurjant Singh (minute 38) and Mandeep Singh (60) were the authors of the goals for India, while the goals for the Argentine Lions came from Nicolás Acosta (45) and Nicolás Keenan (52).
India, the bronze medalists at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, had a dismal performance in penalty kicks, with only Harmanpreet Singh scoring while Abhishek, Gurjant and Sukhjeet Singh all missed.
For Argentina, Keenan, Tomás Domene and Lucas Toscani scored in the penalty shootout.
With this victory, Argentina rose to fourth place in the tournament standings, with 11 points from five games.
The Indians, meanwhile, remain in second place despite the loss, with 13 units in seven games.
Both teams will meet again tomorrow, Sunday, in the second leg on the same stage.
The Netherlands leads this International Hockey Federation (FIH) competition with 16 stripes, followed by India (13), Germany (12), Argentina (11), Belgium (10) and France (10), England (6), Spain (3) and South Africa (0).
rgh/abm
