Daily Times

ROURKELA: India played a stalemate against England in their second match of Pool D at the men’s World Cup at Rourkela here on Sunday night. The side had a goal from Abhishek disallowed in the third quarter, as both sides failed to make a breakthrough throughout the 60 minutes. India had made a winning start to the campaign against Spain, beating the side 2-0, while England had also cruised to a 5-0 win over Wales in their opening match of the tournament. India will now be aiming to finish first in the group to seal a direct berth to the quarterfinals. After the drawn match in Rourkela, India are currently second in the group with four points in two matches.

England are top on the virtue of a superior goal difference. This means India need to dish out a strong performance in their final Pool game against Wales, as Harmanpreet and his men would focus on scoring as many goals as possible. A top spot would ensure a direct qualification to the quarterfinals of the tournament; however, if India finish second or third in Pool D, they will have to play the crossovers. Earlier in the day, Spain had also secured a huge 5-1 win over Wales; the latter has the worst goal difference (-9) in the pool, while Spain have the same GD as India (+2). England, meanwhile, have a difference of 5 goals. If India finish second in the pool, they will play the third-placed side in Pool C that has Netherlands, New Zealand, Chile and Malaysia.