Says India’s hockey coach on the eve of their first tour match against England in Birmingham.
iWithin three months of joining, chief coach of the Indian hockey team Jose Manuel Brasa already knows how challenging his job will be, thanks to the events that have unfolded over the last week. Not that Brasa has directly been involved in any of those incidents but the coach has expressed his anguish over the happenings.
First it was goalkeeper Baljit Singh’s accident and then the embarrassing story of missing the bus and then the flight to New Delhi — there have been enough off-the-field incidents to distract the team.
But the focus now shifts to the team’s exploits on field. India will start their four nations’ tour today when they face England in Birmingham. Brasa and a few players on the team have insisted on the importance of moving on with the events that have unfolded and get used to the European conditions as soon as possible.
With this being India’s first tour under Brasa, it won’t be an easy task playing four countries ranked above India in their own backyards. Brasa wishes the team gets off to a winning start on Monday, which will set the tone for rest of the tour. “It is not that important to get of to a winning start. It will be nice if we manage that but nothing more,” Brasa told DNA via an e-mail on Sunday.
The last time the two sides met, it was when England knocked India out of the Olympics in the qualifier tournament final in Kazan, Chile. Since then, India have put up a string of good results, apart from the disappointment at the Asia Cup in May.
Brasa will be trying a few new tactics during the tour, which the team has worked on during their five week camp at Pune’s Balewadi Sports Complex. “We will introduce man to man marking and some different aspects in defence. The attacks have to be speedier. These are some things we need to work on, so let’s see how it works out to be,” the Spaniard said. “We have to ensure we don’t concede a goal towards the fag end of matches.”
Adrian D’Souza will be under the bars and in absence of Dilip Tirkey, who is nursing his injury, the onus of keeping the defence intact will be on captain Sandeep Singh.
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