Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: It became apparent when both the teams walked out before the anthems. The Germans enjoyed a significant height advantage over their Indian counterparts. When the two teams stood side by side for the anthems, it further rammed home the point.
While most Indian players are still growing — for instance, at 5’ 3”, Vivek Sagar Prasad is one of the shortest players at the World Cup — most of the German boys are already physically robust, almost 6 foot, if not more. The visitors used that as their starting base to physically overpower the Boys in Blue to advance to the final of the junior World Cup.
In what was a very one-sided encounter — if this was a boxing bout, the referee would have ruled it as a light flyweight vs welterweight and stopped it — the 4-2 win did not flatter Germany one bit. If anything, they should have scored more goals, having missed at least three goal-scoring chances when it was easier to score.
Coach Graham Reid summed up his team’s display perfectly 30 minutes into the match. “We are not in front at the back,” he said. “They are showing us how we need to be playing.” While Germany were very good, two factors contributed heavily towards their supremacy.
One was the difference in the height and the other was India’s general sloppy play. Mistakes you didn’t see against Belgium in the quarterfinal were dime a dozen. Passes were routinely overcooked or underhit, there were also a few mistraps. Even if the conditions did not allow the players to express themselves fully — there was a constant drizzle in the first two quarters as the weather system inches its way to the coast — they didn’t help themselves.
The likes of Araijeet Singh Hundal and Uttam Singh, who have not shied away from taking on their men and dribbling down the channel or through the centre, continued to do so but lacked any real conviction. It was almost as if they were expecting to be tackled because of the Germans’ intensity.
However, in the grand scheme of things, this is still a good World Cup for the hosts, who will now play France for the bronze-medal match on Sunday. It’s a good tournament because there’s enough talent in the system to supplement the senior side for years to come. And that’s what the age-group tournament ought to be to begin with. A title is grand but if you can unearth talents who have the nous to progress, that’s what really matters. Reid said the ones who have a chance of breaking through will ‘learn from today’.
The Australian was also pretty intimate with the height advantage the Germans had. “It is what it is, they were pushing us… but that’s what you get at this level,” he said. “That’s why strength and conditioning is so important.” The Germans, who will now vie for a seventh title at this level against Argentina in the last match on Sunday, weren’t just pushing India, they were physically bullying them.
When Germany decided to man-mark, it was a bit like watching big brothers babysitting their little brothers. For instance, the visitors used their bigger reach and wingspan to steal possession of the attackers. Once they knew they were physically better, the game was pretty much up from an Indian perspective.
Results
Semifinals: Argentina 0-0 France (Argentina won 3-1 via a shootout), India 2-4 Germany
5th-8th place: Spain 2-2 Belgium (Belgium won 4-2 via a shootout), Malaysia 3-9 Netherlands.
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