had tears of heartbreak when India missed out on a potential semi-final berth at Sydney Olympics conceding a goal against Poland in the dying moments after leading for 69 minutes. That was closest that Dhanraj, an all-time hockey great had come to an Olympic medal. ADVERTISEMENT On Sunday, as India doggedly defended for 42 minutes with nine men on the outfield and the special man named , who keeps raising the “bar”, the former centre forward couldn’t hold back his tears watching his team make it to the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics.
“I couldn’t stop my tears. I have never seen such performance in many years, and now I am convinced that this team can bring us the Olympic gold after 44 years,” the former India skipper said. As soon as Rajkumar Pal scored the winning goal in the shoot-off, an emotional Dhanraj, glued to the TV at home, jumped in joy.
“Sreejesh was standing like a wall in front of the goalpost and the number of saves he made is nothing short of a miracle,” Dhanraj, who has played four Olympics and four World Cups, said. Indians in action today Men’s singles (bronze medal playoff): Lakshya Sen v Zii Jia Lee (Malaysia)..
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