India to face England in Junior Hockey World Cup today in Lucknow

After defeating Canada in their opening match, India now faces tough challenge in the form of England.

England won their first match against South Africa, scoring four goals and conceding two.

Indian coach, Harendra Singh said after the first game that the team played in first gear mode but against England they have to shift to second gear as they are a strong opponents.

The strategy of Team India in this tournament is to take one game at a time, and step by step progress further.

©TheIndianExpress

India has not won this tournament since last 15 years and they will be hoping to end this drought this time.

India defeated Canada 4-0 in the inaugural match of the tournament and are full of confidence. But they must not get buoyed with the performance as there is still a long way to go.

England has also not won this tournament in their history, so they will give their all to beat India in their own backyard.

India, unlike England, will have full home support and the English coach is aware of this fact. But he still hopes his team will perform with full confidence against India.

Key players from the Indian side are forward Mandeep Singh, defender Harmanpreet Singh, captain Harjeet Singh, penalty corner specialist Varun Kumar and goalkeeper Vikas Dahiya.

A look at the various results so far in the Tournament-

 NEW ZEALAND vs GERMANY (1-2)

©FIH

In their quest for the 3rd consecutive world cup, Germany had to sweat it out for a win against New Zealand.
The Kiwis gave a tough fight but in the end the experience of the champion team took them to victory.
Germany went down by a goal inside opening 5 minutes but Germany didn't panic and made a flurry of attacks on the Kiwis goalpost. They equalised in the 24th minute and got their reward of winning goal in the 51st minute.

Germany are currently top in their pool.

NETHERLANDS vs MALAYSIA (7-2)

©FIH

                                           

The Dutch side thrashed Malaysia with their fast paced game. Malaysia got their entry in the tournament at the expense of Pakistan.

Malaysia scored their first goal in the 59th minute when they were 6-0 down.
It was a completely dominating performance by the Dutch.

Their next match is against Belgium, which may well be pool topper decider.

ARGENTINA vs AUSTRIA (1-1)

©FIH

Argentina were held for a draw by Austria, who qualified for the first team for this tournament.

Led by an Indian coach, Austria stunned Argentina as the match ended on a draw.

First half remained goalless but in the second half Argentina took the lead, but Austrian team equalised after 16 minutes through penalty corner.

The performance of Austria certainly grabbed a lot of eyeballs and it will be interesting to watch how they fare against other teams.

BELGIUM vs EGYPT (4-0)

©FIH

Belgium faced a weak challenge in the face of Egypt and cruised to a comfortable victory with two goals in each half.

All four goals were scored by four different players.

SPAIN vs JAPAN (4-1)

©FIH

After losing their first match against defending champions Germany, the Spanish side came hard at Japan.

They hit 3 goals in the first half. In the second they played defensively according to their strategy.

Lucas Garcia scored two goals for Spain.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Results - World Cup Qualifiers

Sunday was a good day for Portugal, Belgium and Netherlands as all were winners.
There was no dearth of goals as all teams look to strengthen their position and thus giving no chance to oppositions.
Big stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Arjen Robben, Eden Hazard were all in action last night.

UEFA 

Portugal vs Latvia (4-1)

In Group B, Portugal were up against Latvia, Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring from the spot after Nani was brought down in the box in the 28th minute. Portugal earned one more penalty after Andre Gomes was tipped from behind inside the box. And surprisingly Ronaldo missed the penalty, He steps up with typical confidence but his attempt came off the inside of the post, not struck well by his standards. Latvia made Ronaldo and Portugal pay for the miss as Arturs Zjuzins equalised against the run of play in the 67th minute to give Portugal a scare.  

It looked like Latvia's confidence was flowing after the equaliser but William Carvalho scored a minute after to save the blushes of the home side by heading a lovely cross from Ricardo Quaresma, who was brought in as a substitute. Portugal went ahead in the 70th minute.
Portugal sealed victory in the 85th minute and it was another Quaresma cross which Ronaldo volleyed low into the corner and made amends for penalty miss. Cristiano equalled Gerd Muller and Robbie Keane on 68 international goals and is now joint-fourth in Europe's all time list.

Game, set, match for Portugal as Bruno Alves added a fourth heading home a cracking cross from Guerreiro at the back post. Portugal are 2nd placed with 9 points.

Switzerland vs Faroe Islands (2-0)

Group B toppers ran out comfortable winners against 4th placed Faroe Islands. Goals on either side of the half, helped Switzerland making 4 wins out of 4. Eren Drediyok and Stephen Lichtsteiner scored the goals.

 Switzerland sits on top with 12 points.

Hungary vs Andorra (4-0)

Bottom placed Andorra were up against Hungary. Hungary dominated the game in terms of possession and two goals in each half helped them reach 3rd in the table. 

Luxembourg vs Netherlands (1-3)

In Group A encounter, the visitors opened the scoring in 36th minute of the game through Arjen Robben after a lapse in concentration from Luxembourg's defence when they tried playing Robben offside. 

Luxembourg responded bravely and earned a penalty just before half-time to equalise. Maxime Chanot slots past Stekelenburg. Netherlands started second half confidently.

Half-time substitute Memphis Depay scored a bullet header in the 58th minute and in 84th minute score his second goal of the game with a well-taken free kick and saved the visitors.

Bulgaria vs Belarus (1-0)

Bulgaria scored the only goal of the match in the 10th minute. 

France on top in Group A with 10 points. Netherlands and Sweden tied on 7 points but Netherlands ahead on goal difference and sits on 2nd. 

Belgium vs Estonia (8-1)

Belgium run riot in this Group H encounter. Dries Mertens stole the show by having a hand in 4 goals. He scored a brace and set up another two. Belgium were dominant from the start to finish in a deserved victory. Eden Hazard, Yannick Carrasco, Romelu Lukaku all got on the scoresheet. Belgium scored 5 in second half.

With this win Belgium go top in Group H with 12 points.

Greece vs Bosnia-Herzegovina (1-1)

Greece equalised late to earn a point after visitors went ahead in the 32nd minute through an own goal. The match also had two sent-offs as Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Eden Dzeko saw red in the 80th minute. Dzeko questioned his red card after the match. 

Greece with 10 points is 2nd in the table.

Cyprus vs Gibraltar (3-1)

Cyprus comfortably beat bottom placed Gibraltar.

CAF- 3rd round results

Group A- Guinea 1-2 DR Congo

Group E- Egypt 2-0 Ghana


©sportskafun.blogspot.com