Thirty two goals from four games is sufficient testimony that this Indian men’s team means business. With 12 points, only an unthinkable disaster can deny them a berth in the final of the Olympic qualifiers.
Yet, all is not all that well. A run through their performance in the last four outings reveals that the goal tally could well have been 50. Even coach Michael Nobbs looks worried when he goes through the handbook that he carries to jot down the finer points of the match.
Drag-flicker Sandeep Singh’s conversion rate is not that good, but then these issues can only be taken up during free practice sessions, not during an important tournament like this.
One positive is that the young brigade has managed to overcome a major problem that Indian hockey has suffered for decades — pace. One can hardly remember the last time an Indian team played with such speed and stamina. Nobbs deserves credit.
Since taking over as coach, the Australian has devoted much of his time improving the players’ fitness. Gone are the days when the European teams used to take advantage of India’s poor physical strength by pounding goals in the dying moments.
Now, it’s a new India — fit, fast and furious. Not just this. The Indians are matching their opponents in verbal or physical battles on the turf. “I am personally happy that team has been playing at the same speed throughout the match. But then there are worries too. Statistically, we’ve penetrated into rival defence about 30 to 40 times during Canada match and gave them little chance to do so. We were rushing through a little and didn’t finish as well as we wanted. We had our chances and could have had a bigger margin of victory,” said Nobbs on Wednesday.
But he maintains the team is capable of much more. “It doesn’t matter who we meet in the final, we have to win to be in London and we will try to employ a different strategy in the final,” the coach said, adding: “We are going to experiment against Poland as I don’t see them making it to the final.”
Nobbs has been maintaining that whatever he planned to achieve with this group of India players, he has succeeded in doing so. The next phase of planning could be taken up once Mission London is accomplished this Sunday.
Do-or-die for eves
The loss to South Africa has put the Indian women in a spot. The match against Italy on Friday is a must-win for them. Ranking wise, India are only a place behind South Africa who are on ranked 12th. But the difference in class is huge.
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