"We also need to do better with the penalty corners" - Neha Goyal on how the Indian team could increase their goal-scoring efficiency
Indian women's hockey's star player Neha Goyal has addressed the goal-scoring inefficiency of the team and also talked about how the team is preparing to do better in the upcoming games.
The Indian women's hockey team had a disappointing campaign in the Asian Games 2023 as they had to remain content with a bronze medal. The lack of goals proved to be the biggest reason behind the underwhelming results.
Now, midfielder Neha Goyal has addressed the issue in a conversation with the media. The 26-year-old suggested that the players need to stay calm in front of the goal and should take more time before striking.
She also said that the players were hurrying in front of the goal and this led to mistakes. Talking about how the Indian team could score more goals in the upcoming matches, Neha Goyal said:
"We have talked about it a lot and worked on it as well. What we usually do is to quickly take our shots in the box but we should really stay calm. We can take a couple of seconds extra while taking our shots. We also need to do better with the penalty corners."
The Indian team has really worked on their goal-scoring prowess as they are one of the best attacking teams in the competition. They have already scored 14 goals in three matches so far.
Neha Goyal opens up on the team's training session and areas of improvement
The midfielder also talked about the special training the team has done to do better while taking and defending penalty corners. Neha said,
"Our attack on penalty corners is really good but we focused more on defending the penalty corners. China's drag flick is really good and we have trained on how to stop them. We have also tried different variations while taking the penalty corners. We have also worked on our 1v1 and the team attack scenarios."
Neha Goyal also opened up about the special preparation for the Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2023. She said:
"Alongside penalty corners, we have also trained to tackle high-ball attacks. In addition to that, we have also worked on our pressing skills. Korea play well with their high-ball and we have worked to stop their high-ball game."
India are currently playing in the Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2023 and are doing a wonderful job. They have won three out of three matches so far and are on the verge of qualifying for the semifinals.
You can catch all the action from the Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2023 live on the Sony LIV app. You can also catch the coverage on the Sony Sports Network.