India, Aug. 24 -- At the beginning, there was hope. They needed to win by at least two goals. And there was a stirring pep talk by captain Harmanpreet Singh in the team huddle.

"We can do this!" The captain exclaimed again and again. But what started with promise and a war cry ended in a whimper.

At the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, with a potential spot in the Men's Hockey World Cup semi-final on the line, India were outplayed and outfought in a 3-5 defeat to Argentina.

With it, ended a campaign that had more moments of despair than praise. India had not won a World Cup title since their one and only triumph in 1975. The challenge to end that 51-year wait saw the world No.8 team fail to win any of the three matches against higher-ran...