New Delhi: Following their 1-3 loss to Belgium at Rourkela’s Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium on Wednesday, Craig Fulton had said that the Indian hockey team’s defensive structure didn’t deliver in their 2025-26 FIH Pro League opener.
If that was a defensive failure, India’s chief coach will have to forage the dictionary for newer terms to describe the home team’s systematic demolition at the hands of Argentina to lose Thursday’s contest by a humiliating margin of 0-8.
India registered their joint third worst defeat in a sport which has yielded them 13 Olympic medals including eight gold. The other two losses were against the Netherlands at the BMW Invitational in Amsterdam in 1985 and Australia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games final.
India’s display against the world No.6 outfit was so nightmarish that the third quarter, where they managed to not concede a goal, seemed like an anomaly. Tomas Domene was the star of the show as he hammered in four goals (15th, 20th, 26th, 60th) while Tomas Ruiz (14th), Lucio Mendez (22nd), Ignacio Ibarra (25th) and Nicolas della Torre (30th) scored a goal each.
“My team played the whole game at 100 per cent and scored some goals because we were a bit disappointed from the last game (They lost to Belgium 3-5 on Tuesday). We had a lot of opportunities, but we didn’t score. Today we scored eight goals, so it’s great and a great win,” Player of the Match Domene said after the match.
The performance was shambolic all over, from goalkeepers Suraj Karkera and Pawan looking completely out of place to skipper Harmanpreet Singh atypically missing two penalty strokes, let alone the three penalty corners (PC) India missed.
The missed opportunities at the start resulted in quick counterattacks from the South American team who scored two quick goals at the end of the first quarter.
Catastrophe struck in the second quarter when Argentina scored five goals in the space of 10 minutes as the Indian defensive structure completely collapsed. Harmanpreet, Amit Rohidas, Jarmanpreet Singh among others looked absolutely hapless and lost, unable to halt the Argentinian onslaught which grew in confidence with every goal scored.
In scenes not often witnessed between two top level teams in modern hockey, the Los Leones completely dominated possession as they toyed with the Indian midfield and defence, passing and penetrating the circle at will.
The hosts showed slightly better character in the second half but by then the damage had been done. Also, the Argentines looked more than satisfied with the number of goals scored which has catapulted them to fourth in the nine team standings.
The hosts tried pushing forward in the final quarter but it was yet again the visitors who managed to find the back of the net in the final minute with Domene scoring his fourth and final.
Fulton had made four changes for Thursday’s contest following the loss to table toppers Belgium but it was largely youngsters replacing youngsters. Midfielder Manmeet Singh played his first international, a debut he would like to forget the soonest.
The result showed that there is no alternative to experience considering the massive changes Hockey India (HI) management made to the squad just before the Pro League.
Former skipper Manpreet Singh, regular goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak and speedy forward Dilpreet Singh were dropped not just from the team but the core probables. This was done despite the fantastic show by both Dilpreet and Pathak who won the Hockey India League (HIL) last month with Vedanta Kalinga Lancers.
Perhaps the player India missed most was midfielder Manpreet, who also played the HIL final with Ranchi Royals. The 33-year-old versatile playmaker is known to arrest the momentum when the game is going away from the team, having done so many times in his 15-year long career.
The question that arises is whether these changes were necessary now given the importance of this season which has both the World Cup and the Asian Games, which offers a direct ticket to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
This will be a bitter pill to swallow. Such a crushing performance will also hit the team psychologically. It will be interesting to see how the team bounces back from this. They do not have much time as they next face world No.2 Belgium on Saturday before taking on the Argentines again on Sunday.
