India bank on Brasa’s insight
As a Spaniard, Jose Brasa knows quite a few things about his national team. On Thursday, the Indian chief coach will have to put every bit of that inside information to use against the world’s number three side if the hosts intend to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
India’s first two games in the World Cup so far have been a study in contrast, as much for their style of play and the results as for the opposition they were up against. The Pakistan team were slow, they played an Asian style of hockey and were weak in defence, relying more on individual flair rather than team co-ordination.
Tight marking kept their playmakers in check, and that helped India. Australia, on the other hand, were super-fit, played as a unit, outpaced India and had the edge in the first 10 minutes with two quick goals that the Indians could not recover from. Their fitness and speed ensured they could defend as well as the Europeans while playing attacking hockey like the Asians.
In their third outing against Spain, India will again have a completely different set of challenges on hand. The Spaniards are not known for being too flashy or adventurous. They prefer playing a more defensive game, relying more on counterattacks and a lot of aerial passes. At the same time, they also rely more on individual excellence. Their three main defenders — Sergi Enrique, Ramon Alegre and Xavier Ribas — have more than 100 international caps each against their name, while Alex Fabregas and Albert Sala in the midfield are nearing 200. With Pau Quemada’s emergence, they now have an expert drag-flicker as well, which makes their counters even more dangerous.
On the flip side, the Spanish team have a lot of youngsters this time around. The Olympic silver medallists have also been patchy in the tournament so far. While Pakistan easily got past them on Tuesday, South Africa stretched them to the limit and it was only two goals in as many minutes that put Spain on their way. In fact, Spain’s strengths this time around have been their captain Pol Amat and David Alegre up front, while Francisco Cortes has been impressive under the bar. Though Eduard Tubau completes the attacking threesome, he may opt out of the crucial tie due to personal issues. If the Indian defence is able to keep Amat and Alegre quiet, half the work will be done.
India will be looking to step on the pedal from the word go. It is a known fact that if India are first off the blocks, they end up with a positive result. The Spain tie will not only be an opportunity for them to recover from their loss to Australia but also strengthen their chances of reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 1975, the year they won the title.
PR Sreejesh is likely to return for the game, in tune with Brasa’s preference to test both goalkeepers equally, despite Adrian D’Souza being impressive against Australia. Shivendra Singh will again be out of action.
If Deepak Thakur is able to come up with his best, it would help the Indian attack significantly. The midfield has been India’s strength so far and the team would hope they continue to hold fort.
India have 23 victories, 17 defeats and nine draws against Spain from the 49 matches played so far. In the World Cup, the teams share two victories each of the four games played.
After the Australia loss, Brasa had commented: “We beat Pakistan convincingly and they beat Spain, so that equals we can beat Spain.” Ric Charlesworth knew the Indian players and made full use of that knowledge. It’s time for Brasa to repeat the task.