India Face Mighty Dutch Test As They Look To Seal Hockey World Cup Semifinal Berth For The First Time Since 1975

History, careers, reputations, credentials, future, growth. The list can almost be never-ending. How Thursday ends will decide a lot of things for Indian hockey. Years of sweat, tears, blood and money rest on one match: the World Cup quarterfinal. To win this, as Oscar Wilde put it, the players will need to 'live' than just 'exist' in those 60 minutes. "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all" - the great man had said.

To draw some inspiration, let's go back to August 24, 2018. It was during the Asian Games. Naib Subedar Sawarn Singh, the front rower of India's quadruple sculls rowing team from the Sikh Regiment of Indian Army, had spurred himself and his team on. For two days before their event, he was reciting a holy Sikh verse to his mates.

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'Na daro arr seo jab jaye laro, nischey kar apni jit karo" (have no fear of the war and the enemy, stay firm and achieve victory). These are lines from the hymn 'Deh shiva bar mohe' written by the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh. He spurred his troops on during war with these lines. It wasn't war for Sawarn and his mates on that sweltering day in Palembang, Indonesia, but there was a lot at stake. That desire, fueled by the Guru's words, won India the gold.

On Thursday, 18 Indians, wielding hockey sticks instead of rowing oars, will have to do something similar.

The Netherlands won't be short of any inspiration either. For them, second best is nothing. In the 2014 World Cup, after the silver-medal finish, the Dutch federation sacked coach Paul van Ass. If India can win silver, coach Harendra Singh's name will go down on a special page in Indian hockey history.

For the men in Orange, the inspiration will be to win the trophy they last lifted 20 years ago. For the men in blue, it's another opportunity, after a few wasted ones since 1975, to get into a World Cup semifinal and be in a position to win one of their last two matches for a podium finish.

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Nothing will come easy to either team as Harendra rightly referred to it as an "equal match".

After India-Pakistan, it's perhaps an India-Netherlands game that can enthrall crowds completely, here at the Kalinga Stadium. With open and attacking hockey and a lot of flair on display, the game is expected to be an exciting one. The open style of play will also provide chances to both teams, maybe in plenty. The side that cashes in on them will win.

"We can't afford to miss even 25 percent of the chances we create, either score or get a penalty corner," Harendra hit the nail on the head.

The last time these two teams met, India managed to eke out a 1-1 draw, to enter the Champions Trophy final in Breda earlier this year. But in the last 10 encounters, India have won only three and Netherlands six. In World Cups, it's 5-0 to Holland in six matches, with one draw.

A setback for the Dutch team is losing Sander de Wijn, who has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. With 127 caps for Holland, the defender is regarded as the team's coach on the field besides being their first rusher in penalty-corner defence. But many Dutch experts in the stadium believe he wasn't at his best in this tournament.

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Another man India must watch out for is Jonas de Geus. A midfielder normally, he is playing as a defender in the current formation. He is among the players most Dutch clubs are after. The youngster almost has eyes on the back of his head.

"It is something Max said about me in one of the tournaments. He meant I have good vision on the field and I like to know what is going to happen before it happens, check for spaces and where my opponents are," de Geus said.

For India, one big positive is that four years ago, not many pundits would have given the team a chance. But things have changed since India won back-to-back silver medals at the Champions Trophy.

Captain Manpreet Singh in the midfieled, Akashdeep Singh in attack, PR Sreejesh in goal and Birender Lakra in defence will once again be the leaders the team will look up to. That India have managed to get out of a tight spot on more than one occasion in this ongoing tournament holds them in good stead. It happened against Belgium and for a short while against Canada.

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But teams like Holland will punish you if you let the momentum shift. Those little moments, perhaps, will decide the winner. And, of course, the boisterous Bhubaneswar crowd can always play the role of a 12th man.

"The team has improved, especially since Harry (Harendra) sir has come. The focus is that we don't leave out even the 50:50 chances. We want to change history." said Manpreet.

The skipper's last line sums up this contest of epic proportions.