Five years ago Graham Reid took disappointment in his stride. He was the losing coach in the Olympic men’s hockey competition at Rio 2016.
It was all so different this time. The Australian was buoyant and gushed praise for his team. The colours of their jerseys was different – blue instead of gold.
The winning team we’re talking about is India who beat Great Britain 3-1 in the Tokyo Olympic last-eight clash and in the process created a piece of history. It was the first time in 41 years that an Indian team reached the medal round of either the Olympics or World Cup and Reid exuded immense pleasure to be a part of history.
“A really good performance by the time. They can be really proud of the way they played,” Reid, whose Aussie side was beaten 0-4 by the Netherlands in Rio.
“It was the plan. Even in the last quarter, we weren’t willing to sit back and always tried to take it to them,” the former Kookaburras defender said. “It certainly paid off.”
Reid reminded all that the opposition was GB. “They are a very good team and sometimes you have to bite and scratch to win a game.”
Asked to comment on reaching the semis (medal round) after four decades (Moscow 1980 was the last), Reid said: “It’s wonderful to be part of this special group which I wanted to coach and I told the players before the match how good they can be.”
Reid was pleased to see how his team imbibed the nuances and soaked up pressure on all fronts – from open play and penalty corners.
Graham Reid and GB Coach Kenny exchange greeting after India’s win in the QF
He was also drawn into commenting on selection controversies and the vindication of his choice of players.
“Well, there’s no special formula. Sometimes your selection pays off, sometimes it doesn’t,” the 53-year-old Australian said.
“There are perhaps 10 players back home who could have fitted in,” he added.
At the end of the day, Reid was happy in his team’s endeavour to create opportunities. “They either come in the form of open play or penalty corners and both are important. You do that and the goals will come,” he said.
Today, they came, in open play and from the youngsters who sparkled in the forward line – Dilpreet, Gurjant and Hardik.
Reid was also taken back to the 1-7 mauling at the hands of Australia but said that he and the team put their heads together to view things in perspective.
“Thanks to statistics that we have at our disposal, the result was bad but the numbers showed it wasn’t a 7-1 game. We had our opportunities and it could be different on another day.
“It helped us believe we could come back from that defeat, the worst Olympic loss India have suffered.
But there was no reason to feel demoralized. Moreover it’s the modern game and these things happen now and then.”
About what he said in the team huddle after the win?
“I told them to enjoy this historical moment for the next two hours. But after that, we have to start again,” Reid said.
Reid went back to the time, two years ago, when he took over the reins of the team. “The team was lacking big game experience. Now having qualified for the semi-finals, it puts them in a position to win again. Take the case of Belgium who won the 2018 World Cup albeit by a whisker. But there was a blip, a lesson in winning and they’ve gone from strength to strength since then.”