Put yourself in Philip Roper’s shoes. You are in a penalty shootout, and you must score, because a place in the semifinals is on the line. Eight seconds to do it and in front of you is a monster in an oversized yellow shirt and giant blue pads and slightly scary helmet. You go straight and he’s there. You turn left, looking for an angle, and he’s there. Somehow the big man keeps pace with you, turning as you turn, falling down to cover the low angle. Now’s your moment, you think. Lift it, and surely there’s no chance for the keeper. So, you do – and a giant blue glove paws it out.
Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh doesn’t do chances.
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This was his 23rd professional shootout and his 13th win, and it was never in doubt really. That’s why the Indian players, after 60 minutes of backs-to-the-wall hockey (44 of those with a man down) against Great Britain, celebrated like they’d already won when they had secured the 1-1 draw and took the match to the shootout. They knew their goalkeeper would carry them through. Because that’s what PR Sreejesh has been doing for nearly two decades now.
That’s why, as soon as Raj Kumar Pal converted to seal the win 4-2, everyone ran to Sreejesh, mobbing him, hugging him, crying with him. Even the usually restrained head coach Craig Fulton sprinted out of the dugout to jump on his keeper, knocking him down with the force of his hug, and lying on top of him for a moment: emotions boiling over in a way we’ve never seen before.
After the match, Sreejesh downplayed his performance. “Nothing special,” he said, but it had been special. Great Britain had taken 21 shots, won 11 penalty corners, and scored just one goal. It was a goalkeeping masterclass.
Before the tournament Sreejesh had announced he’d retire from the sport after this Games, and everyone in the team had declared that they would be playing this one for him. It’s ended up, though, like most tournaments he plays in: with him playing for them and then some. From match one he’s been on his A-game, bringing out save after save – either to salvage a poor outfield performance (like Argentina and Ireland) or protect a good one (like Australia). In this quarterfinal, though, he was almost impossibly good.
That Morton save came in the 56th minute but he was at it the whole game — sticking out a boot here, diving and extending his glove there, rushing out at times to close the angle, staying back and trusting his reflexes in others.
ONLY SREEJESH CAN!!! ������#TeamIndia make it to the semi-finals, Watch the Olympics LIVE on #Sports18 & streaming FREE on #JioCinema ��#OlympicsonJioCinema #OlympicsonSports18 #Olympics #Hockey #JioCinemaSports #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/rX3t3UQtwz
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The thing is, that’s exactly what those of us watching expected to see. From the time he started this gig, he’s been the one constant in this team. When the team were poor, he kept them afloat. When the team won an Olympic medal, his were the broad shoulders on which glory was built.
For a man who only became a keeper because he “didn’t want to run”, who picked up hockey to “get 60 grace marks”, it’s not been a bad career. But for India’s greatest ever goalkeeper, it’s not done yet. “I thought [before the shootout],” he said after the match, “this can be my last match, or I can have two more (the semifinal and either the final or the bronze playoff).”
Sreejesh did a Sreejesh. He forced those two more out.