Coach feels no pressure
Bhubaneswar, Dec. 1: A litmus test awaits India in their second pool match of the men’s hockey World Cup on Sunday and chief coach Harendra Singh said he considers the game against world no.3 Belgium as a virtual “pre-quarterfinal” for the home team.
India are placed in Pool ‘C’ alongside reigning Olympic silver medallist Belgium, South Africa and Canada and the table toppers will directly qualify for the last-eight round.
“I don’t feel any pressure. If you enjoy that pressure you will succeed. What I feel is that for me tomorrow is our pre-quarterfinal match and if we want to directly go into the quarterfinals we will have to win tomorrow,” Harendra said in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
“We have discussed that in our team meeting and we will take one match at a time.”
Asked about Belgium’s threat, Harendra said India need to play to its strength to come out victorious on Sunday.
“If we look at their graph in the last 4-5 years, Belgium is a good team. We have to play according to the situation,” he said.
“In the last 5-6 months the Indian team has set a trademark of playing attacking hockey which is our weapon and we won’t compromise on that.”
Speaking about the areas India need to guard against Belgium, the Indian coach said: “We need to take care about the vertical hockey Belgium plays.
They don’t play parallel hockey of playing the ball back. So, we need to concentrate on that.” — PTI