Head coach Janneke Schopman urges India to play semi-final against Germany 'like a final' to book Paris Olympics ticket

Published at :January 18, 2024 at 10:39 AM

Modified at :January 18, 2024 at 10:39 AM

(Courtesy : Hockey India)

The coach and captain Savita Punia also spoke about preparing for shootouts.

After a challenging start, the Indian women’s hockey team aims to sustain its winning streak as it faces Germany in the Women’s FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024 semifinals, a crucial encounter in their goal of qualifying for Paris Olympics. Having played Germany recently, including a loss in the 5-Nations tournament and two Pro League draws in 2022, India will seek redemption for a spot in Paris.

Ahead of the big clash, Indian women’s hockey team coach Janneke Schopman and skipper Savita Punia spoke to the media in the pre-match press conference and shared their thoughts.

The pair discussed preparations the semi-finale against Germany, acknowledging the team’s strengths and areas for improvement. Savita Punia spoke about training for shootouts and the team’s mindset. The coach appreciated the progress in handling mistakes and emphasized the team’s focus on their own performance rather than comparing with others. They highlighted the significance of playing in front of a crowd and expressed motivation for the upcoming matches.

Strategies against Germany

When asked about how the team India strategizing their gameplay for the clash, head coach Janneke responded, “I think if our strikers can play to their strengths, if our defenders can play to their strengths, we will pull some problems for Germany because I think we have good defenders in a one vs one.”

Punia also echoed, “As the coach said, Germany is a good team. But individually, our team also has a lot of good players. I think if you have a very strong competition, what it does is you get a lot of game opportunities so that the players playing against Germany have had a lot of games in general.”

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Where do India lack against European opponents

On being asked where the team was lacking in regard to the European countries, Schopman said, “You know, you play club hockey. And that means playing games, means learning, decision-making, awareness. And that is always an advantage to a training because in a training, if you make a mistake, that’s fine because there’s no consequence.

“Whereas if you lose on Sunday or on Saturday, whatever day they play, you don’t feel so great. Because, you know, I think from my own experience as well, that has always been the advantage. You know, and that’s where Holland and European teams in general with a lot of league hockey have a little bit of an advantage in that game awareness piece.”

Possibility of match going into shootouts

“Everybody knows that Germany is a good team. So we have to focus on the game for the first 60 minutes. As a goalkeeper, definitely that will come to my mind. If the match is on shootout, what will be my reaction and what will be the team’s reaction. But again, I will say that we have already trained for this. We have trained a lot for shootout.

“The attackers have also trained a lot. And our players have a lot of good skills. And me and Bichu, whoever goes, we also know that the Germans are good players. They are good individuals. So, we have to stay calm. And we have a lot of experience of shootout,” said Savita Punia when asked about the possibilities of the match going down to the shootout stage.

Importance of mental conditioning

Schopman also emphasized the paramount importance of mental conditioning, “I prioritize the well-being of my team, acknowledging mental health as the top priority. It’s crucial to foster an environment where players feel comfortable sharing their experiences, understanding the cultural differences that may affect them. While winning is a goal, it’s secondary to ensuring the players’ mental health, as success at the expense of their well-being is not a satisfactory outcome.

“My focus is on creating a supportive atmosphere where the team can openly express their needs and challenges, recognizing that mental health lays the foundation for both individual and collective success in sports, viewed as a metaphor for life’s lessons.”

Penalty corners conversion

India won six penalty corners against the USA but failed to convert any. Japan gave away 15 penalty corners to Germany, but like India they too failed to convert any. Naturally, Germany will come well prepared for this match. “What I was really happy with is we execute. Yesterday we executed. And I think we had four PCs. We had one mesh trap. But even that one we kind of figured out in a decent way. We didn’t do that very smart at the end.

“But we know they are having a good PC defense. And we actually found out the hard way in Spain. When we encountered their first runner quite often. Yeah, so we will sit around the table, make a plan,” added Schopman.

“It’s a semi-final, but it’s kind of a final,” Schopman said. “Hopefully we need only one final to qualify…but maybe we need two.”

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