Going into the tournament, India had to beat two countries (USA and Argentina), and get their four points. Given this assumption, it could then survive losses to either Pakistan or Germany, survive a couple of draws (Spain / Pakistan / Germany) and still hope to make Position 2 in Pool A, and hence qualify for the semi-finals.
Going into the match, India learnt that Germany were shocked by Spain 0-1. This was invaluable, as India could afford to draw with defending champions Germany, and still be ahead of them in the points tally.
Argentina, who have always given a tough time to India in the Olympics, proved no different today. They survived the initial Indian blitz and and slowly evened the balance of play. The first half ended 0-0, with both teams getting comparable number of penalty corners and shots at goal. What happened in the second half was a different story.
After the lemon break, Argentina changed their gameplan and attacked from the left. This is because they realized that 32 year old Pargat Singh, India's right back was slow on his feet and was resorting to long clearances. The rest of the Indian defence was also lethargic in the second half, and our citadel was bound to fall.
Then came Gavin Ferreira's yellow card for rough play. India was down to 10 men. Argentina forced a penalty corner. The stage was set for the only goal of the match.
The ball was hit straight to sprawled goalkeeper Subbiah. Anil Aldrin got the ball on the rebound. However, violating the cardinal rule of not losing possession of the ball in the D, Anil did a blind clearance. The ball went straight to the lurking Argentine forward, who slammed it in. The Argentines were one up, and with 20 minutes left to go, India had to come up with a strategy to at least draw, if not win the tie.
The Indian coach responded by a series of haywire substitutions. Our main spearheads, Dhanraj, Mukesh and Sabu all sat on the bench at various times when India were trailing. There was never any cohesion in the forward ranks. Faulty passes and lack of backup support ensured that there was no serious threat to the Argentine goal.
The Argentines bottled up the Indian forwards in the last ten minutes by crowding the D. There was no way they would concede their precious one goal lead. To the waving of the Argentine flags, and the singing by the Argentine women's team, Argentina earned a well-deserved 1-0 victory.
India has to earn 2 points from their match against Germany. A draw may not suffice, as Germany can rattle up goals in other matches and be ahead of India in the points tally.
As usual, India did not convert any penalty corners. Whatever penalty corner variations Cedric has imparted to the boys in the training camp, India has to employ them in the match against Germany. At this level of competition, India cannot afford a 0% penalty corner conversion rate.