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The Indians will take on Spain in the bronze-medal match of the men's hockey competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir on Thursday (August 8).
The Spanish Red Sticks went down 0-4 to the Netherlands in the first semifinal on Tuesday before Germany edged India 3-2 in a humdinger of a contest in Paris.
Even as the Indian men aim to win a second successive Olympic bronze medal, Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh will be playing the last international match of his career after having announced his retirement recently.
Max Caldas, who took over the reins of a young Spanish side in 2021 having coached the Netherlands women's and men's teams with great success, has a chance to get Spain onto the podium for the first time since 2008.
The Spanish Red Sticks won silver in the Olympic men's hockey competition at the 2008 Beijing Games after having finished as runners-up in 1980 and 1996.
Spain caused one of the biggest upsets of the tournament at Paris 2024 by getting the better of defending champions Belgium in the quarterfinals but failed to get their act together against the speedy Dutch in the semifinals.
Caldas'; team will have to contend with an Indian side in ascendancy despite their narrow defeat to Germany in the semifinals while also knowing that Sreejesh could be incredibly tough to beat in his farewell match.
Match Details: India vs Spain, Bronze Medal Match, Paris Olympics 2024
Date & Time: Thursday, August 8, 2024, 5:30 PM IST
Venue: Paris, France
India vs Spain: Head-to-head (Last 7)
Matches Played: 7
India - 2 (2023 FIH World Cup, Pro League 2023-24)
Spain - 3 (Valencia 5-Nations 2023, Pro League 2022-23, 100th Anniversary SHF International 2023)
Draws - 2 (FIH Pro League 2022-23, 23-24)
India vs Spain: Full Squads
India
Goalkeeper: PR Sreejesh
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay
Midfielders: Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad
Forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh
Spain
Goalkeeper: Luis Calzado
Defenders: Alejandro Alonso, Jordi Bonastre, Xavier Gispert, Marc Recasens, Marc Vizcaino, Ignacio Rodriguez
Midfielders: Pepe Cunill, Gerard Clapes, Marc Miralles, Joaquin Menini, Eduard de Ignacio-Simo
Forwards: , Rafeal Vilallonga, Jose Maria Basterra, Marc Reyne, Borja Lacalle
India vs Spain: Prediction
While the pressure of retaining the Olympic hockey bronze will lie squarely on the shoulders of the Indians, Spain will need to pick themselves up after a demoralizing defeat against the Netherlands. The Indians are certain to use their best penalty corner variations in the medal match and stopping Harmanpreet Singh will be high on the agenda of the Spanish think-tank.
Score Prediction: India 4 - Spain 1
Where to watch Paris Olympics 2024 hockey matches in India?
Hockey matches at the Paris Olympics 2024 will be telecast in India on Sports 18 channels and streamed live on Jio Cinema.
