Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh hailed PR Sreejesh as a legend after the veteran goalkeeper produced a fantastic performance to help the team beat Great Britain 4-2 on penalties to reach the semifinals at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
India, who were reduced to 10 men, defeated Britain in a thrilling quarterfinal in the shootout after the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Having made several saves in the regulation time, Sreejesh, who is playing the final tournament of his career. was the hero in the shootout for India.
“He is a legend, man, no doubt. This is his last tournament and he is playing like this. So we are looking forward and we still have two matches to go. We will give our best,” Harmanpreet said.
India won the gruelling contest despite playing with 10 men for most of the match following a red card for a reckless high stick by defender Amit Rohidas in the 17th minute.
The final penalty score by substitute Raj Kumar Pal put the once dominant side in the semifinals for the second Olympics in a row, after they won bronze in Tokyo, as they look to recapture the gold medal that has eluded them since 1980.
Going a man down seemed to galvanise rather than discourage India and they pressed forward and forced a penalty corner five minutes later, with skipper Harmanpreet capitalising on the chance to give India their only score.
Britain equalised through Lee Morton after 27 minutes but India held on to prevail in the shootout.
“We were pretty angry about the card, man,” Harmanpreet said. “Angry, but it is what it is. We can’t run from that.
“We had to manage and the mindset was there. We needed to defend quicker and make sure the diagonal balls, the overhead balls should be in our hands.”
Meanwhile, eighth-ranked Spain upset reigning champions Belgium 3-2 in the second quarterfinals on Sunday as skipper Marc Miralles netted a crucial third goal with three minutes to go before the defence stifled an attempted comeback.
Spain had not made it past the last eight since Beijing 2008, while Belgium reached the last two Olympic finals, with several of their players holding gold and silver medals from the Tokyo and Rio Games respectively.
Forward Jose Maria Basterra opened the scoring in the 40th minute by converting a goalkeeper deflection off a blistering pass from defender Jordi Bonastre but the lead did not last long as Belgium’s Arthur de Sloover equalised a minute later.
Forward Marc Reyne put Spain back in front after 55 minutes with a strike from the field and Miralles stretched the lead before Alexander Hendrickx pulled a goal back.
“I think today is the best day of my life,” Basterra said.
“We had pointed to this day in our calendar, and now we are so happy. We have to enjoy today and tomorrow we will see (face) our opponents and we will see how to beat them.”