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The last hockey test match between India and Spain ended in Spain’s favour. A last minute strike from Albert Sala led Spain to victory on Wednesday night.
India tried to overcome from a 0-4 deficit with strikes from Vikram Pillay in the 54th and 57th minute, Sardar Singh in 28th minute and Sandeep Singh in the 66th min.
The goal scorers for Spain were Xavi Ribas (8th), Eduard Tabau (12th), David Alegre (25th), Alex Fabregas (27th) and Sala (70th).
The hosts made an aggressive start with constant attack on the Indian defence by Eduard Tabau and Xavi Lleonart supported by strong midfield overlaps.
India conceded a penalty corner in the eighth minute when the ball struck skipper Sandeep Singh's foot. Ribas made no mistake in shooting past goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza.
The Indians soon conceded another soft goal as Tabau broke the defence of Sandeep and Sardar Singh and beat D'souza in the 12th minute.
The early setbacks encouraged the Indian defence and mid-field to play well but forwards Prabhjot Singh, Gurvinder Chandi and Rajpal Singh were unable to break through the Spanish defence.
Spain took the lead with a counter attack which won them their second of four penalty corners.
The Spanish dominated the first half with a goal by Alex Fabregas in the 27th minute giving them a 4-0 lead.
A minute later, India found their first goal through Sardar Singh after a good move coordinated by Dhananjay Mahadik and S.V. Sunil
India returned back in the second half with a well synchronized attack.
They reduced the margin in the 54th minute after a combination sortie by Shivendra Singh and Chandi and Pillay slotted past Cortes.
The margin was further reduced to 3-4 with Pillay striking three minutes later converting a penalty stroke.
The last goal for India came from Sandeep in the 66th minute after a good move from Rajpal and Arjun Halappa.
In the last minute of play, Sala struck to give Spain a 5-4 win.
The Indian team will now travel to Amsterdam for the final leg of their European tour. They will play two matches against the Netherlands.
