We need to get the opening goal in matches: Indian men's hockey team coach Paul van Ass
Indian hockey men’s team chief coach, Paul van Ass is quite positive going into the Fintro World Hockey League despite India losing to Belgium in the second friendly by the narrowest of margins, 2-1. He insisted that getting the first goal in the game would be the key moment to put pressure on the opponents.
India played France in their opening warm-up game and won 1-0 through a Rupinder Pal Singh penalty corner before the defeat to Belgium, where Akashdeep Singh got India’s only goal.
The Dutchman analysed the team’s performances in the warm-up and said that his wards need to apply more pressure and try to score the opening goal.
He said, “What came out for me is that we have to increase the pressure on the opponents from the start and getting the initial goal in our name will help us build the pressure.”
He reflected on the importance of the penalty corners in the game and the need of taking the opportunities to yield that very important opening goal.
“We need to work on getting penalty corners in our name apart from looking at the capitalizing on opportunities in the D. While the boys did a good job in breaking the defence chain of the opponents, they need to ensure they yield results,” the 54-year old said.
In spite of conceding two goals against Belgium, Van Ass expressed satisfaction with the defenders closing down the gaps at the back. He had said earlier that it takes the full team, not just the defenders, to defend successfully against a top side.
India plays its first match against the French in the opening match of the tournament on June 20th. With Olympic qualification already secured, the key for the men’s team will be trying out different combinations and gaining momentum ahead of the multi-sport event in Rio in 2016.