The Indian men’s hockey team needs to work on its defence, said coach Graham Reid. Reid said that the biggest learning he took from their recently concluded tour of Europe was that the team allows the opposition to come back into the game in the middle periods of matches too often.
“We will go over the data from this tour once we return to SAI, Bengaluru but the first things that requires attention is making sure we tighten our defence. We allow them (opponents) to come back in the middle (of the game) a bit too much. The last match was a little bit better. We are starting to make some ground on that,” said Reid in a release from Hockey India.
“We go back to Bengaluru from here and will be training there for a few weeks before we set out on another tour of our FIH Pro League matches in Argentina. I believe the next few months leading up to Tokyo (2020 Tokyo Olympics) are going to be busy for us with competition and some training in between where we will work on the things we need to. The Olympic year has well and truly started now for us and we need to accelerate our learnings,” he said.
India secured a 6-1 win and 1-1 draw against Germany in Krefeld, Germany. They followed this up with a 1-1 draw and 3-2 win against Great Britain in Antwerp, Belgium.
“Our performances against Germany were mixed. It was pretty good beating them 6-1, we took them by surprise and made good use of the opportunities, but we let too many PCs in,” said Reid.
“The second game saw better defensive efforts from us. The third against GB was OK. It was a bit colder in Antwerp, different pitch and perhaps we didn’t play as well as we should have. But the last game (where India beat GB 3-2) was first-class. We led most of the game, came back twice from a stalemate, scored in the last few minutes which is a really important thing to get over,” he further said.
India’s Pro League tie against Argentina will be held in Buenos Aires on April 10 and 11.
The Indian men’s hockey team played out two draws and got two victories in their four games on their tour of Europe with matches against Germany and Great Britain.
The games were planned to help the Indian men’s hockey team prepare well for the postponed Tokyo Olympics, with almost no match practise due to the coronavirus pandemic. The last played India were on the field was back in the FIH Hockey Pro League in January and February last year where the team took on the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia in Bhubaneswar.
Tour captain PR Sreejesh had stressed on the importance of the matches against top European sides and how it would help the world no. 4 team in preparations for the delayed Summer Games.
“These matches against Germany and Great Britain are super important for our preparations. It is an opportunity to test ourselves tactically, physically and mentally,”
GERMANY 1-6 INDIA
In their first international match in over 12 months, the Indian men’s hockey team outclassed hosts Germany 6-1 on February 28.
Nilakanta Sharma (13′), Vivek Sagar Prasad (27′, 28′), Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (41′), Akashdeep Singh (42′) and Harmanpreet Singh (47′) were goalscorers for India as they dominated hosts Germany, who got their only goal from Constantin Staib in the 14th minute.
GERMANY 1-1 INDIA
In their next match, on March 3, the Indian men’s hockey team drew 1-1 with Germany. Jarmanpreet Singh opened the score for India in the 4th minute as Martin Haner scored for Germany minutes from the end of the 2nd quarter.
India’s head coach Graham Reid was a happy man with him stressing on the learnings from the games played at Krefeld.
“This match was a good experience for our players. It was a tough match and the team worked hard. Both teams created opportunities and I believe we will learn a lot from this game,” Ried told Hockey India.
GREAT BRITAIN 1-1 INDIA
The Indian men’s hockey team took on Great Britain in their third and fourth games in Antwerp.
In the first game, on March 6, against Great Britain, India salvaged a 1-1 draw as Simranjeet Singh’s late equaliser in the 57th minute cancelled out Great Britain’s Alan Forsyth opener late in the second quarter.
GREAT BRITAIN 2-3 INDIA
India put up a splendid performance in their last game on the Tour of Europe as they beat Great Britain 3-2 on March 8. Harmanpreet Singh’s goal in the very first minute and double goals by Mandeep Singh in the 28th and 59th minute helped India remain undefeated as James Gall (20′) and striker Adam Forsyth (55′) scored for Great Britain.
CAPTAIN SPEAK
PR Sreejesh, who was leading the team on tour in the absence of regular skipper Manpreet Singh, stressed again the importance of the matches.
“Getting enough international matches is more important for us at this moment. We are focussing on performing better than before. We want to get back into the normal rhythm, where we left last time. From there, we need to start and improve,” Sreejesh told TOI.
“About Germany, we started on a good note. [In the] Second match they played a bit differently, but still we managed to hold them, ” said Sreejesh about the two games played in Germany.
“They have a very good defensive structure. In the first match, we punished them for their mistakes. In the second game, they played more carefully, more defensive hockey, and managed to stop our forwards from scoring,” he added.
COACH SPEAK
Head coach Graham Reid told TOI that he was ‘happy’ with performances in the matches and it provided an indication to plans which can be in place for Pro League and the Olympics.
“I was really happy with the German part of the tour. The team we played [against] is pretty much the team they [Germany) fielded against the Dutch yesterday [on Sunday in the Pro League match]. I think we would have warmed them up,” Reid told TOI.
“I am very happy the way it [matches against Germany] went. Competition was very strong and we played such a different game of hockey, different styles. Our guys experienced that and now we have videos to analyse, work to do,” Reid added.
India’s defence, led by Sreejesh in goal, conceded just 5 goals in their four games.
Mandeep Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Harmanpreet Singh all scored two goals overthe four goals. The constant pressure of the mid-field in covering their defence in foiling attacks and helping out in the attacking third.
UP NEXT
The Indian men’s hockey team will return to India on March 10 after the completion of the European tour. Their next outing will on the road again with their first away Pro League fixture in Argentina on April 9 and 10.
ANTWERP (Belgium): Striker Mandeep Singh struck a brace as the Indian men’s hockey team eked out a close 3-2 win over Great Britain to end their Europe tour on an unbeaten note on Monday. Harmanpreet Singh’s strike in the very first minute and two goals by Mandeep in the 28th and 59th minutes helped India remain undefeated on the tour.
For Great Britain, James Gall (20th) and striker Adam Forsyth (55th) were the goal scorers. In their previous match, India’s Simranjeet Singh had scored a late goal to hold Great Britain to a 1-1 draw and against Germany, the PR Sreejesh-led side had secured a 6-1 win and a 1-1 draw respectively. On Monday, India started off aggressively and earned themselves a penalty corner in the very first minute of the game. The opportunity was duly converted by India’s vice captain Harmanpreet to give his side an early lead. The early advantage helped India maintain pressure on their opponents, ending the first quarter with a 1-0 lead. Great Britain restored parity in the 20th minute through midfielder James Gall’s field goal. The much-needed equaliser helped his team gain the right momentum. Putting India under pressure, Great Britain earned themselves a penalty corner, but their attempt was derailed by a brilliant save by India skipper Sreejesh. India’s moment to regain the lead came in the 28th minute when forward Mandeep successfully converted a penalty corner on the rebound. Ahead by a goal, India rallied to extend the lead further with aggressive play in the third quarter. Though India secured a penalty corner in the early minute of the third quarter and even made as many as five circle entries, they were denied each time by the Great Britain defence. India’s defence, however, remained resolute as they held onto the 2-1 lead. India dominated the proceedings at the start of the fourth quarter, but a quick turnaround saw Great Britain grabbing the opportunity as Alan Forsyth scored an equaliser in the 55th minute. The last few minutes was a battle of nerves as both the teams lived up to the billing, but it was Mandeep who rose to the occasion as his late strike helped India cap off their first assignment of 2021 with a 3-2 win.
ANTWERP (Belgium): Simranjeet Singh produced a late strike as a resilient Indian men’s hockey team held Great Britain to a 1-1 draw in its third match of the Europe Tour on Saturday. Simranjeet’s late equaliser in the 57th minute ensured India remained unbeaten on the tour. For Great Britain, Alan Forsyth scored in the 2nd quarter. India dominated with ball possession early in the match and used hard press to tame Great Britain’s attack. Britain’s first real opportunity came in the 10th minute when they earned a penalty corner but were denied by goalkeeper PR Sreejesh who made an excellent save. Though both teams created a number of opportunities in the first quarter, they could not convert. Ending the first quarter in a 0-0 stalemate, the GB men started the second period aggressively and won themselves yet another PC, but the Indian custodian Krishan B Pathak, who replaced Sreejesh for the second quarter, made an outstanding save. In return, India did create potential opportunities in Great Britain’s striking circle but couldn’t convert. However, within a few minutes, Alan Forsyth’s strike helped Great Britain to break the deadlock towards the end of the second half. A dominating start to the third quarter saw GB earning back-to-back penalties, but India managed to nullify the threat. Vying for an equaliser, India penetrated twice inside Great Britain’s striking circle, but couldn’t make the most out of it. Indian men got their rewards in the 57th minute as Simranjeet found the net. India will take on Great Britain on Monday in their fourth and final match of the Europe Tour.
