Giving away short corners a concern, says Graham Reid

The Indian head coach wasn't happy with the way the team started the game.

Graham Reid's India and England’s second group-stage game ended in a draw with both teams sharing a point each in the Men's Hockey World Cup 2023. Both teams had equal opportunities in scoring goals which they failed to capitalize on. The last group stage match is going to decide which of the two will top the pool and make it to the quarterfinals directly which will ultimately boil down to goal difference.

Conceding too many Penalty Corners

India conceded eight penalty corners, four of which were conceded in the first quarter itself but none of them got converted into a goal.

Graham Reid iterated, “We played fast hockey today but it was concerning as well giving away short corners. A good thing is that none of them got converted which is a good sign.”

Point won or two lost?

After a fighting performance from both teams, the match ended in a draw with neither team scoring goals.

Graham Reid opined, “Both teams will have the same feeling as we pretty much had the same number of goal-scoring opportunities. The play inside the circle needs to improve with lots of missed opportunities but the fight and commitment shown till the end were great to watch.”

Importance of the last match

Both India and England have won and drawn a match each but England occupies the top spot in Pool D due to a higher goal difference. The team which finishes on the top of the Poll will directly qualify for the quarter-finals.

The coach positively remarked, ”We will have a simple mathematical calculation going into the final match against Wales. So overall the objective will be easy and straightforward.”

Thoughts on the performance

Graham Reid wasn't impressed with the way India started the game against England. He believes the Men in Blue lacked pace in their attack and let the English overrun the midfield.

The head coach opined, “We did not start the game well and were lacking pace at the start. We missed a few connections but to England's credit, they forced us to play that way. Also, it is hard to assess the player's performance straight after the game but will have to go through the videos and assess them. We did not receive the ball properly in the first quarter and the choices of shots and execution too weren't good at times.”