The Indian women's hockey team conceded a late goal which led to the Argentina B team's 2-1 victory. In the previous games, the visiting side had drawn 2-2 and 1-1 respectively against the Argentina junior women.
Sol Pagella (11') and Agustina Gorzelany (57') scored for the home team while young forward Salima Tete (54') was the lone goal scorer for India.
"Today we played against a stronger Argentina squad consisting of many of their senior players. This was a perfect practice match for us ahead of next week's schedule where we play against the senior side," said chief coach Sjoerd Marijne in a Hockey India release.
"Unfortunately, we conceded a PC goal minutes before the regulation time and this is what we need to manage better," he added.
India began on a backfoot with Argentina 'B' playing tough, attacking hockey right from the start. India conceded two back-to-back PCs within six minutes of play, but goalkeeper Raj did well to save the goals.
In the 11th minute, however, a fierce circle penetration and a well-timed strike by Sol Pagella put the home team ahead 1-0.
With a strong defence put up by the Argentinian women, PCs were hard to come by for India, and circle entries were restricted too. Though India managed to earn a PC in the 23rd minute, drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur's attempt to equalise was well saved by the opposition goalkeeper.
It was a battle India had to fight hard against a strong Argentinian forward line as they earned two more PCs in the 43rd and 51st minutes. But India's PC defence held fort to ensure the lead was not further extended.
In the 54th minute, when India bagged a PC, an alert Salima Tete swiftly struck the ball off a rebound into the goalpost fetching her team a much-need equaliser.
The sturdy home team upped the ante in the following minutes with a circle penetration that resulted in a PC. This was the deciding moment as an experienced Gorzelany converted the goal in the 57th minute to seal the match.
( With inputs from ANI )
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