Brasa blames umpires for India’s plight

V Narayan Swamy

GUANGZHOU: Chief coach Jose Brasa believes the Indian team was the best of the lot in the 16th Asian Games hockey competition and accused the umpires of depriving his team of a place in the final.

“We watched videos of the semifinal and realised that the penalty corner from which Malaysia scored their third goal should actually have been a hit in our favour. The ball had clearly hit the foot of a Malaysian before it touched Gurbaj. It was poor umpiring which put us out of the match,” he declared.

National coach Harendra Singh, who was in tears after the match, said FIH, the game’s world governing body, ought to have insisted on the video referral system at the Asian Games as it was a qualifying tournament for the Olympics. “Knowing that the competition will be hot as all teams were gunning for that one slot, FIH should have insisted on the referral system. It would have minimised errors. Why stop a good thing after introducing it?” he asked.

“We are angry because we played better hockey throughout,” added Brasa. “We are not happy with the bronze. We came here for the gold.”

Summing up Thursday’s third-place match, Brasa pointed to the missed chances. “We could have won by more goals. Our forwards are good at creating chances, but they should be creative enough to force penalty corners.”

Midfielder Sardar Singh, the workhorse who spared India many blushes as he carried out the twin tasks of defence and building attacks, came for special praise. “He is skilful and clever. Sardar is a great advantage to the team. He is basically a central midfielder who is in the defence because build-up these days begin from the defence.”

Brasa was reluctant to answer questions about his future with Indian hockey. “All I know is that my contract expires on November 30. It had a clause which said that I will be granted an extension until London 2012 provided we win the Asian Games.”