The Tribune: Smells like team spirit
Captain Harjeet says every player knew his role and played it to perfection
By Indervir Grewal
An unbelievably loud crowd witnessed history in the making at a jam-packed Dhyan Chand Stadium here on Sunday.
In Lucknow’s hockey circle, the hangover of previous night’s frenzied scenes of celebrations was still fresh. “Congratulations to you” replaced namaste as the greeting for the day. They knew they had been part of Indian hockey’s biggest win on home soil in a long time.
The junior World Cup win has kindled greater hopes of India bringing home more titles in the future. However, what has made this win even sweeter, is India’s complete team performance, an aspect not attributed to the Indian teams.
Break from the past
India’s teamwork had its effect on the defence. India’s defence was not troubled in most of the matches. It is a big credit for India, whose national teams are known for their defensive frailties.
South Africa coach had said that the Indian players “are good at individual defence and rely on it too much, more than the better-structured teams. They need to work on their defence.”
A valid point as defensively India showed susceptibility to change in pace in the pool matches. However, it never became a big worry later in the tournament. The team was structured in defence and the credit goes to every player, more perhaps to the forwards and midfielders. Unlike in the past, the forwards performed their defensive duties with unwavering discipline. The best example of it was India’s win in the final. The first line of India’s defence — relentlessly going after the ball-carrier and lunging to intercept every pass — suffocated the Belgians, making the title clash a one-sided affair.
The dominance India showed over top teams such as Australia, Belgium and England was a total opposite of the dynamics at the senior level; and the main reason for that was teamwork.
Harjeet Singh led from the centre
The captain led from the front, or rather from the centre. Manning his team from the centre, he had an almost flawless tournament. The only poor game he had was against Spain in the quarterfinals, when he lost his bearings a bit. But he quickly raised his game, and made sure his team was disciplined against Australia in the semifinals. The most impressive feature of his performance was the regularity at which he started counter-attacks. The speed with which he stole the ball of an opponent’s stick on numerous occasions showcased his presence of mind. India’s main strategy was to apply high pressure and catch the opponent off guard with counter-attacks. The captain proved to be the biggest weapon in this strategy; no wonder manager Roelant Oltmans couldn’t stop singing praises of him.
Mandeep Singh, man in form
The wiry striker was the most potent of the Indian forwards. More than the goals he scored (3), it was the goal-scoring opportunities he created, especially against defensively tight teams, that made him standout. He was at his pestering best against England, as he kept finding the space in a packed English third with brilliantly-timed runs, winning two crucial penalty corners, one of which led to the equaliser. Mandeep Singh was named the Man of the Match in all the three pool matches.