Out of title reckoning, India had to toil hard today to register a 5-3 win against a lowly Canada, their first in the tournament, in the ongoing Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.The defence continued to disappoint as India yet again conceded soft goals to allow 15th ranked Canada to pump in three goals.
The fragile backline has been Indian men's hockey team's perennial problem and new chief coach Paul van Ass on Thursday admitted that the defence continues to be his major concern.
Out of title reckoning, India had to toil hard today to register a 5-3 win against a lowly Canada, their first in the tournament, in the ongoing Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.The defence continued to disappoint as India yet again conceded soft goals to allow 15th ranked Canada to pump in three goals.
"What worries me is the defence. The defence worried me before I came to India. That is one of my first concerns. Our defence is too bad. I think we lost a lot of games in the end phase earlier as well as in this tournament," Van Ass said after registering his first win with the team.
"We are simply not strong (in defence). We tend to lose our head (in pressure situation). But every game gives us a lesson. Of course it's great if you win and get a lesson," he added. In the presence of two quality drag-flickers in V R Raghunath and Rupinder Pal Singh, penalty corners are considered to be India's strong point but the Sardar Singh-led side was off colour on that front as well.
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India earned as many as eight penalty corners against Canada but managed to convert just two. But coach Van Ass said it's not something which bothers him too much.
"I am getting a better feel of the hockey we can play. I am getting a feel of our strengths and weaknesses. Of course, we can do more variations with the corners, be more proactive. We did not do that. I did not choose to do that because I wanted to see as much as possible. But that does not worry me so much," the Dutchman, who took charge of the team barely four weeks ago, said.
"I am glad that we managed to score five goals. It was nice," he added. With India already out of the title race, Van Ass said he was looking forward to collect as much knowledge as possible about the team from this tournament and vowed to give world champions Australia a tough fight on Saturday.
"The good part is I don't have to calculate anymore. I am looking forward to the next game against Australia. That's the toughest game. Australia is pretty strong and it is going to be a big challenge. For me it is important to see how individually and as a unit the team holds under pressure, which has not been the case so far. That's the information I want to get. I want to make it as difficult as possible for Australia," Van Ass concluded.
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