Paris: India hockey coach Craig Fulton said his team “are on the right road” for future Olympic glory after coming from behind to collect their 13th men’s medal with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Spain in the bronze medal match on Thursday.
India captain Harmanpreet Singh scored from two penalty corners after Marc Miralles had given Spain the lead at the Yves du Manoir Stadium in Colombes, northwest of Paris.
It is India’s fourth Olympic bronze medal and second in succession following the Tokyo Games and adds to eight golds, the last of which came in 1980, and one silver.
“We knew we had it in us,” said Fulton, who played for South Africa at the 1996 and 2004 Olympics.
“We came here as underdogs, no one thought we could make the top four. But two cycles, back-to-back medals ... that shows we are on the right road.”
The bronze medal came on the back of a tense quarter-final penalty shoot-out victory against Britain — a match in which India played 43 minutes with just 10 men — and a heartbreaking 3-2 semi-final defeat to Germany.
“I feel great,” said Harmanpreet. “We create history again, back-to-back (bronze medals). It’s a big day for India and a big day for hockey.
“We were here for gold but unfortunately that dream was shattered.”
Three-time silver medallists Spain took the lead when Miralles fired an 18th -minute penalty stroke past “Wall of India” Sreejesh Raveendran, playing his 336th and final international.
Borja Lacalle almost made it two, beating Sreejesh only to see his shot rebound off the post.
With the country’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, supporting from the stands, India began to press hard and with just a few seconds remaining of the first half, Harmanpreet buried a penalty corner to level the scores.
Three minutes after the break, Harmanpreet repeated the trick, sweeping another penalty corner just inside the Spanish post.
It was his 10th goal of the tournament — he is the top-scorer at the Paris Games.
Spain picked up the tempo in the final quarter, forcing a series of late penalty corners and one outstanding save from Sreejesh, which ensured that India would take the bronze medal, the country’s fourth medal in Paris.
“Today’s game was very good. We played as a team,” said Harmanpreet, who had a special word for his goalkeeper, retiring after an 18-year international career.
“Everyone delivered, especially our legend Sreejesh. It was his last game. It’s a memorable game for him, and a big achievement as a team. He gave everything to hockey in India.”
World champions Germany face Netherlands in the gold medal match later on Thursday.
