Need to move on and focus, asserts Harmanpreet Singh after penalty stroke miss

Graham Reid also discussed the decision to play both Krishna Pathak and PR Sreejesh in the game.

Graham Reid's India beat Spain 2-0 at the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in their first game of the FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2023. Amit Rohidas and Hardik Singh were the goals scorers, with the former scoring the 200th goal for India at the prestigious competition. The defensive unit led by Harmanpreet Singh played an important role by holding their own after nine successive matches.

Men in Blue played as a unit in both attack and defence. With this win, India opens their points tally and occupies the second spot behind England in Pool D.

Importance of defence

The defensive unit in the past few matches did not have a good track record by conceding goals on a consistent basis. India in the opening match did not concede a goal against Spain which was a good improvement.

The coach Graham Reid said, “We kept the ball out of the goal which was good. In the training sessions, we played with 10 players to get used to the situations which I have mentioned in the past as well. I think we got in the front lot today which made a difference.”

Harmanpreet Singh iterated on the same point and said, “Defence plays an important role even if we score goals or not. Even during the final quarter when we were down to ten men, we played well defensively.”

Harmanpreet’s goal-scoring opportunities

Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh had an off game missing crucial opportunities. Overall the drag-flicker couldn't convert any of the six penalty corners along with a penalty shoot-out.  

The captain opined, “It was an off day and is part of the game. We need to move on and focus on the upcoming matches. I missed both the penalty corner and penalty stroke but overall the team won, which is important. The attackers played really well creating opportunities and getting in PC which wasn’t converted.”

Importance of goal difference

England beat Wales 5-0 in the opening fixture of Pool D and occupies the top spot in terms of goal difference. To gain automatic qualification to the knock-out stages, Harmanpreet Singh and co will need to finish at the top. And for that, staying ahead of everyone on the goal difference will be important.

However, the manager is not too concerned about things he can't control yet. Graham Reid explained, “What goes through my mind is to put in a good effort. The few things I was pleased about today were the defensive effort and handling the ball well.” 

Communication a problem 

Birsa Munda International Stadium is a newly constructed stadium with one of the highest seating capacities in the world. And so it was difficult for the players to communicate with each other while playing in a packed stadium.

Harmanpreet Singh pointed out the problem and quipped, “Yes, we had a few problems with communication. When the players are closer we tend to shout but with forwards it becomes very difficult with every player having his own responsibility.”

Performance of goalkeepers 

There are many teams which have primary and secondary goalkeepers. India, on the other hand, has recently started playing both PR Sreejesh and Krishan Pathak in a single match both contributing equally.

The head coach Graham Reid opined, “We have two excellent goalkeepers both pushing each other to perform well. This is an advantage to the team as I always have options ready if someone is injured and the replacement then will not make much of a difference.”