A disappointing pool campaign fresh in their minds, an inconsistent India will have to raise their game by leaps and bounds as a dangerous Great Britain await the hosts in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Hockey World league (HWl) here on Thursday.
India are still searching for their first win in the tournament, having finished last in Pool B with a draw and two losses.
Great Britain, on the other hand, topped Pool A with two wins, which includes an upset victory over world champions Australia.
India finished last in Pool B but still progressed to the quarterfinals thanks to the format which allows all the eight participating teams to make it to the knock-out phase.
India’s game has been erratic so far in the tournament. After a lacklustre showing against Argentina, the Sardar Singh-led side produced an inspired performance to hold Olympic champions Germany to a 1-1 draw before witnessing another off day in office, losing 1-3 to the Netherlands.
And India’s chief Roelant Oltmans coach was candid enough to admit that inconsistency is an area which the team needs to address.
“It’s not been consistent enough, that’s clear. We have been good in certain faces. Against Germany we played really well. There’s room for improvement,” he had said.
The Indian striking force of Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, SV Sunil, Talwinder Singh Mohd Amir turned out to big disappointment in this tournament, wasting numerous scoring opportunities. Out of the five, only Akashdeep scored a goal in the 1-1 draw against Olympic champions Germany.
The Indians scored just two goals in three games but Oltmans defended his misfiring strikers. The backline too needs to pull up their socks as India have already conceded seven goals.
And come Thursday, the Indians will have to produce their best in all departments of the game if they want to upstage the world ranked fourth Great Britain.
Great Britain has impressed all and sundry with their brilliant display in the pool stages.
Even though they are here without the services of some experienced players like Barry Middleton and Ashley Jackson, Great Britain looked threatening.
The Dan Fox-led British side did not have the best of outing in their 3-1 win over lowly Canada in their opening match but as the tournament progressed they got into their groove.
In their next pool match, Great Britain stunned world champions Australia 5-2 before playing out a 3-3 draw against Belgium in a high-intensity enthralling duel yesterday.
Great Britain start as favourites against India in the quarterfinal match, but home side’s chief coach Roelant Oltmans think otherwise and said if he does not have belief in the capability of his wards he should pack his bags and head home.
“Great Britain can be beaten. If I did not believe that, I might as well go home,” said Oltmans.
Even though world number six India failed to register a win in the pool stages, Oltmas said the hosts showed they were capable of upstaging any side.
“We were not at our best against Argentina (in the opening match), but against the world number two (Netherlands) and three (Germany), we showed we have the ability to beat any team. We did not do that because of minute details,” the Dutchman observed.
The India coach, however, admitted that his forwardline need to be proactive against Great Britain on Thursday.
India created numerous scoring opportunities in the three pool matches but failed to utilise them, scoring just two goals in the tournament so far.
“We missed chances, but don’t forget, the top teams have some of the tightest defences in the world. This (lack of goals) has been a concern and we have talked about it in our team meetings. We will try to set the record straight against Great Britain,” Oltmans said.
“Receiving the ball and picking a pass are crucial to creating and converting chances. It’s all about having a cool head under pressure,” he added.
Besides the India-Great Britain match, Argentina will play Belgium in the last quarterfinal on Thursday.
Dutch beat Canada to reach semis
Defending champions Netherlands had to toil hard to register a 2-0 win over a fighting Canada in the first quarterfinal of HWl at the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Stadium here on Wednesday.
It was expected to be an easy outing for the world number two Netherlands against a lowly Canada (ranked 14th) but the Dutchman were made to wok hard as Canada, who lost all their three matches in Pool A, produced an inspired performance to frustrate their opponents for the first 25 minutes of the match.
After battling hard for most part of the opening half, Netherlands finally tasted success in the 25th minute when the Canadian backline conceded a soft goal. The goal was set up by Valentin Verga and tapped in by Constantijn Jonker.
The fourth and final quarter witnessed a tough fight but again Canada conceded another soft goal when Roel Bovendeert scored from a field effort in the 56th minute to hand over the match to Netherlands.