"It's great having someone like Harmanpreet Singh" - Graham Reid as India take on Spain in FIH Hockey Pro League
An upbeat Indian men's hockey team will take on Spain in the second leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
With 6 points from 3 games Harmanpreet Singh and co. will be aiming to end their last Pro League match of the year with a flourish. The Indians lost to a young Spanish side 2-3 in the first leg before making amends by thrashing New Zealand 7-4 on Friday during the ongoing mini-tournament at the Kalinga Stadium.
The Men in Blue had earlier come from behind to trounce New Zealand 4-3 in the season opener.
VICTORY!!! 😍
It was a thrilling attacking performance by India! 💙
IND 7:4 NZL
#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #FIHProLeague @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI https://t.co/jpqdmCl9f9
Harmanpreet, who ended up as the highest scorer in the previous edition of the FIH Hockey Pro League, continues to be the leading goalscorer thus far in the competition with 4 goals from 3 matches.
Coach Graham Reid lauded the short-corner specialist, who fired 18 PCs home over the course of the previous Pro League season and also managed to score 9 times at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
"It's great having someone like Harmanpreet. We have been doing a lot of work on variations and hopefully we can have them rock-and-rolling during the World Cup," said the man who guided India to an Olympic bronze last year.
The former Australian Olympian did, however, point out to Sportskeeda that to be successful in crucial games at the highest level, the side needed to score from open play while also capitalizing on the short corners.
"Teams that are successful at this level, especially at World Cups and Olympics, you have to have both parts of the game working, PCs working well in attacking and defence, but if we're talking attack wise, we have to score from PCs and field goals," Reid asserted.
It was a closely contested match between India and Spain. Have a look at some gripping moments from yesterday's match.
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The Indians, who lost 0-7 to Australia in the finals of the Commonwealth Games, failed to earn a single PC in the big match. Reid, who replaced the legendary Ric Charlesworth as coach of the Kookaburras in 2014 did acknowledge the importance of PCs during the big knock-out games.
"We did score field goals in the CWG in Birmingham, but as far as semis finals are concerned, in the last ten World Cups and Olympic Games, a lot of them have come down to PCs," he stressed.
"We are getting to know each other and growing" - Max Caldas on guiding young Spanish side in FIH Hockey Pro League
Graham Reid, who assisted Max Caldas in the Netherlands men's camp before his India stint, will be matching wits with the Argentinian, who is now in charge of the young Spanish outfit. Spain won both their FIH Hockey Pro League matches against New Zealand and India.
India suffer their first defeat in FIH Pro League 2022-23 against Spain. It was a match of narrow margins.
IND 2:3 ESP
#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI https://t.co/HfJ4a2r5cN
Caldas also guided the Netherlands women's team to three successive gold medals at the 2012 Olympics, 2013 Hockey World League and the 2014 World Cup. He told Sportskeeda that the decision to move to Spain was prompted by his earlier observation of the under-16 Red Sticks players.
"One of the reasons I said yes to the (Spain) job when the chance came along was that I was closely involved with the under-16 teams. I got a chance to see the Spanish boys playing in European tournaments. So, I had a good understanding of certain names and players with the potential to play at this level," Caldas revealed.
"We are getting to know each other and we are growing and I think that's part of high performance. We have a lot of trust and I give them a lot of space to be themselves."
The 2014 FIH Coach of the Year revealed that he is enjoying the experience of mentoring the Red Sticks while also relishing his time in Spain.
"It's been very good, I think. Family-wise, its been a great experience. My family is now in Spain and thoroughly enjoying it. It's been amazing. Its been a lot more amazing and positive than I probably would have thought. When you move countries, adjusting can be a bit tricky, but me and my family are loving it," the Argentine stated.
New Zealand suffer their consecutive defeat in this #FIHProLeague season as Spain beat them 3-2 in a nail-biting contest. Here is our match day round-up 👇
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#HockeyEquals
While Spain are now transitioning to a young side, Caldas stressed that age was not a factor that played a role in selection.
"Age is the not the reason they should be here, they're good game is the reason they should be here. Whether they are 18 or 35 doesn't really matter. What matter matters most is to have players that actually want to get better while already being good."