By K. ARUMUGAM

First up are France for hosts India at the FIH 2021 Men’s Junior World Cup starting in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, November 24. Graham Reid, India head coach, is taking nothing for granted for myriad reasons. Attending a virtual media conference along with captain and midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad, the Australian looked ahead to the morrow.

“The first match of a tournament is always difficult,” he said. “Then again, there’s very little known about the opponents (and vice versa),” the Australian added.

Caution against France isn’t misplaced. They have impressed at all levels in the past decade and even reached the final of the 2013 Junior World Cup in New Delhi while India failed to make the knockouts.

And, at the Senior World Cup in Bhubaneswar, the French shocked Argentina and made the second round, eventually finishing eighth.

Given that the 2024 Olympics will be hosted by Paris, you can expect the adrenaline to flow as the young French square up to India at the Kalinga stadium.

But let’s hear it from Reid. “I imagine they’re a very good team and like European sides hold the ball very well, move it quickly around, come down the right hand side and have two very good strikers. So, we must be at our very best.”

All said and done, however, Reid who coached the senior side to a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to end a 41-year-old drought, is upbeat. “It’s all going to happen and I am really excited.”

Prasad, a member of the team at Tokyo, is excited as well as he reflects to the team’s build up to the event.

“We’ve had good practice matches against the Seniors and against the US, Canada, Netherlands and Germany in the last few days,” the midfielder said.

Reid, however, put the pre-tournament practice matches into perspective while giving details. “We scored a lot of goals against USA, played a tight game against The Netherlands where we conceded a soft goal and beat Germany 4-1 which was nice. We, however, can’t read too much into these games. Also remember, no one gives away too much strategy but we’ll still have a look at the videos and fix up things that are needed to,” the coach said.

Is he scouting talent for the senior team? Reid replied, “It’s only natural progression for the next group comes forward. So when they move out of the U21s. So it’s a good ground to find the up-and-coming players.”

The former Kookaburras defender/midfielder is particularly pleased looking at his young charges train.

“The juniors’ want to try everything and their enthusiasm has been immense. It’s exciting for me to view up-and-coming players,” Reid said.

Of particular interest is Prasad’s role in the team. “It’s pleasant to watch him take on a leadership role and apply those skills. This is very good for the team,” Reid said.

As for Prasad’s view on making good the experience garnered at senior level, the captain said: “Working with coach (Reid) for two years has been very helpful and I have learned a lot on the big stage especially the “team first” concept which is so useful on and off the pitch.

As to which campaign brings on more pressure – the 2020 Olympics or the Junior World Cup, Reid said, “Talking to my wife the other day, I told her I get the nerves before any tournament match. But I use that to make sure that everything is OK. Being a home tournament, there’s extra pressure on the guys but no one expects more from this group than our ourselves. “Yes, there’s pressure on this group, but we’re putting pressure on ourselves to excel and we’re trying to set the bar very high.”

Asked to compare this group of players with that of 2016 from which nine players went on to represent the senior side, Reid said, “If these players show anything like the talent the older group showed, then Indian hockey is in a good position.”

Has he tried anything different with the juniors? Reid responded by revealing his role with the junior squad. “The boys have been working with BJ Kariappa (assistant coach) in Bengaluru for some two years. My job is to put the icing on the cake and transfer some concepts from the seniors to the juniors.

“It’s difficult to to change a lot of things in a short period but most pathways are similar.

“We’ve been working on a lot of traits. The ‘team first’ attitude, the mindset that we can’t change what’s happened but we can change what you can do and how you put pressure on the opponents.

As for the top contenders? “It’s hard to know that. The usual suspects are Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany and we know how France in 2013 came out of blue and reached the final.

“The Asian teams are quietly going about their business. Pakistan and Malaysia have always had good junior teams…”

India play Canada the next day before taking on Poland on November 27 in the final Pool B match.

The top two teams qualify for the quarterfinals of the 16-nation tournament.

It’s a tricky format and one slip could be fatal. But Reid terms it as a “ huge opportunity to perform at this level, and at home.”