Asian Champions India locks horns with continent’s powerhouse South Korea today in the league match match of the Champions Trophy, with a lot at stake.
Having slipped against Belgium yesterday, the Indians are in a precarious position now. The draw against Germany and win over Great Britain created a hope for India to be in the medal contention, but lacklustre show against Belgium prove to be a dampener in their dream.
The tournament is midway through, exactly at it, all teams have completed three matches and three more to go.
South Korea which has a single victory is a substitute team, filling the gap created by qualified Pakistan, the finalist of the last Bhubneswar edition.
By defeating Belgium, the Asian team proved they are not pushover, and how the World Rankings are unkind to them.
India, on the other hand, seems to a flash in the pan kind of stuff. A few individuals like SV Sunil and Captain Sreejesh stood out to count so far, but when the both failed the results was there for everyone to see.
Simply put, India lose to Belgium, which was beaten by Korea. Therefore, on plain facts, Korea has a psychological advantage.
Old fox Seun Song Tae, centre-forwards of yore, trains the team while his peer Hyo Sik, despite being the oldest in London, is going strong.
The Koreans are young, energetic but inexperienced. They always surprise top teams, and it is their habit to do so.
Due to various other factors, the peninsular giant lacks the bite it used to have so far, but they are up and coming as a team.
German Paul Lisseks, who needs no introduction, is a veteran in Asian hockey. He is the Performance Manager of the Korean team, tasked with reshape and rebuild Korea.
Lissek too knows Indian psyche thoroughy.
India need to minimize its unforced error, need to be more determined, and don’t go for all out kind of attack all the times.
Indians cannot match the Koreans on energy and speed. This they can counter with patience and character game.
In short, India need to play European style against emerging Koreans to contain them, and produce a respectable scoreline.
Raghunath proved his faultlines against Belgium. Up and coming Surender too was tentative yesterday. Usual brilliance of Manpreet Singh was conspicuous for its absence.
Relying too much on SV Sunil and PR Sreejesh to shoulder all the burden in all the game will prove counter productive.
India is a team, everyone need to produce their best to prove why they are reigning Continental Champions.
For the fans, a cracker of an encounter is waiting to happen tonight at London.
Fringe players for the Rio like Devinder Walmikis need to be given more time on turf to prove their class and stake their claim for Rio. The kind of goals he struck are need of the hour.