India vs Spain Hockey Live Score, FIH Pro League 2024/25: Goalless After 1st Quarter, Harmanpreet Singh Absent

India vs Spain Hockey Live Score: India is without Harmanpreet Singh for the second match with Spain in the FIH Pro League where Hardik Singh captains in his absence. In the first quarter, it was a rather slow start from both ends with hardly two scoring opportunities.

Inauspiciously, India became the last team to start their FIH Pro League 2024-25 campaign, losing to Spain by 3-1 in Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar. As most of their rivals in the Pro League are already deep into their campaigns in this asynchronous league format, the Indians must know there is a lot of catching up to do, and that must start with winning the rematch against Spain in Odisha today.

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India had gotten off to a good start, with Sukhjeet's goal putting them 1-0 up in the second period, but needless to say, it was a lead that vanished within a couple of minutes with Callos scoring Spain's immediate equalizer. India couldn’t recover from the switch in momentum as Spain scored the second and then a third from a penalty corner as India threw everything in search of another.

India must know that since they started late in the season, expectations hang heavier on this window where games shall come in thick and fast, and they must utilize these home matches. Spain were one of the weaker teams in the last Pro League edition, and while some improvement has been seen in Max Caldas's team, India ought to treat them like the clear favorites by going out, playing and winning.

India should thus hope that this side, who clinched bronze in the 2024 Paris Olympics, dusts off the rust and finds its chemistry in a bid to wipe away their loss in the first match against Spain. The boys had been away in the HIL, and the transition from those systems playing against one another to once again finding the rhythm in the national setup can be a tricky one.

There will be no soothing words heard if the team finishes sixth again in the Pro League states Harmanpreet Singh, clearly knowing they have far too much talent not to be competing for the title among the best. However, they were never in danger of slipping into the solitary relegation spot, which is far too little to please the supporters and the demand being placed upon the team.

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However, captain Harmanpreet chose to emphasize the positives following the defeat, and did not wish to criticize his team too harshly. "This is a good learning experience, and we’ll take the positives from this game," said the captain. "We started pretty well, we kept good pressure and got many opportunities as well, but I won’t be too disappointed as it was our first match after a long time. We will try to convert our chances in the upcoming games," he explained.

With the Dutch dominating from the top after 8 matches in the current edition of the league, with others mostly playing 4 matches, it was Spain's turn to play their fifth game, wherein they lost 3-1, earning their place on the League table, already ranked fourth with 2 wins, 1 wins at shootouts, and 2 losses.

They look forward to putting Spain on the scoreboard by posting a bounce-back win and thus commencing an important homestead of games for India now in Odisha.

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