India fell to their fifth straight loss in the FIH Pro League this season, after going down 2-0 to Spain in Hobart on Saturday afternoon.
It was a performance that did nothing to ease any concerns that Craig Fulton may have had after the four straight losses to Argentina and Belgium in Rourkela, as goals from Ignacio Abajo and Ignacio Cobos condemned India to yet another loss.
India would've wanted to start well, but they were very sloppy, and conceded six minutes into the game, after failing to defend a long ball into the circle, where a deflection on the edge of the circle fell to Abajo right in front of goal, and he deflected it past Suraj Karkera.
India were so poor with their basic skills that creating chances to come back into the game became difficult. India's build-up was sluggish and far from precise, with Amit Rohidas and Jugraj Singh both struggling to keep possession whenever India attempted to play out from the back.
Goalkeepers Suraj Karkera and Mohit HS both made some impressive saves to keep India in the contest for a large part of it. It was another bit of sloppy Indian play at the start of the second half, that allowed Cobos to double Spain's lead.
India only managed to earn one penalty corner in the game, compared to Spain's seven. India had only nine circle penetrations through the game, Spain had 23. The gulf in the quality of the two teams' performances was palpable, as Spain picked up their first win of this Pro League season, while India were left licking their wounds again.
You can relive the match, as it happened, in our live blow below: