India breathe easy after victory

AMSTELVEEN: One of the toughest things for a coach is what he should say when his team is two or three goals up? I would reckon, one should tell the team not to become complacent or relax. My old friend, Horst Wein, one of the finest coaches of our times, says he would tell his team, "You are going to lose this match." Simply because that ought to propel any team to work harder.In fact the team must forget that it has any goals against its name and play as if the match has just started.
To that add another possibility, when your team is demoralised and have to play an apparently weak side? Well in such a case, tell the team that ''today is another day''. Yesterday is history.
The Indians did not realise it or were not told that Saturday''s match cannot be replayed, even in the mind. The match against Germany ended 3-2 for India and the winning goal came barely two minutes from time when Gagan Ajit Singh shot his second with a cracker from top of the circle. But the win was something that India should feel lucky about considering they should have walked over this inexperienced German side. So India finally have points on the table at this Champions Trophy.
The tight defence employed by the young Germans was a tactic they used well, as their forwards and midfielders often lacked ideas. In such a situation, their coach Dieter Scuermann, did well to get his side to defend tightly.
The two goals that India scored were of course due to gaps in the defence, but a team as fancied as India ought to have created more chances which they did not. Prabhjot Singh finally got the stick to ball and scored off a high tap-in, which may not have been allowed some seasons ago. Earlier, Gagan finished a Dhanraj Pillay-Deepak Thakur move inside the German 25 yards.
Germany got their first goal from Benedikt Sperling, who capitalised on a mistake by the Indians, who did not fallback quick enough for a counter attack. He trapped and shot home with a reverse flick through Devesh Chauhan''s legs. Their second goal was a penalty stroke conversion by Alexander Samhel.
Two important tournaments in a row is tough going for any side and that''s why German coach, Bernhard Peters is fielding different teams for Champions Trophy and European Nations Cup. Pakistan led 4-0 after about 25 minutes, but very nearly lost the match, as an inspired Argentinian side came back to 5-5 and then conceded a sixth goal. Then in very last minute, their penalty corner attempt was saved and Pakistan survived to win 6-5. It was an exciting match from a spectator''s point of view, but from my view, it was poor play by Pakistan in the second session and they were really lucky.
Imagine Argentina reached here only on Saturday afternoon after winning the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic and played on Sunday. Their winin the regional Games secured them an Olympic berth, something which Germany, India or Pakistan are not sure of right now. Still one must congratulate Argentina for a fine display. They did not lose heart, in fact fought amazingly. A lesson that every team must learn from this match.
Tactically, I feel Pakistan''s defence, as also midfield, is not as strong as some of the Europeans'', which is why they concede late goals. Also their fitness levels are low. The same frankly goes for India, too. European teams are tight in midfield and seldom allow gaps in defence. The goals scored by their rivals are due to excellent skills and few goals happen because of lapses.
In the Holland-Australia match, the hosts were not going to make mistakes of allowing the rivals to go ahead. They shot home twice before Australia realised they were also playing the match. The Dutch, true to their nature, kept the pressure and then built a 5-1 lead, and they certainly did not relax.
Despite Australia getting two late goals, the Dutch won 5-3. The Holland forward line is combining well and their technique is superb as was seen in the field goals. Australia is struggling with their penalty corner conversion as they managed to convert only one of the eight they got. That is unpardonable in modern hockey, while Holland converted the only one they got.