German coach pats team

Y.B. Sarangi

NEW DELHI: German coach Markus Weise was relieved that his young team was mature enough to make a difficult comeback and hold a tough side like Korea.

Weise lauded Germany’s team effort for staging a fightback after trailing 0-2 at half-time against a side which relied on counterattacks.

“There was a lot of hard work invested and it was a positive sign. The boys stuck to the plan and had patience. I did not see the young side panic,” he said. Captain Max Muller was not happy that his side could not make the most of the penalty corners.

New Zealand coach Shane McLeod said the absence of its star striker Simon Child was felt in the hard-fought win against Canada. “It has affected us. We really had to keep balance in attack. Today was the evidence (of a key player’s absence),” he said.

Captain Phillip Burrows also acknowledged the problem and praised Child’s replacement Priyesh Bhana for his good showing. McLeod heaved a sigh of relief at having started the campaign with a win. “It is nice to take away three points. It was a difficult game,” he said.

Playing his 300th international match was not a memorable experience for Canadian captain Ken Pereira. “It does not mean anything when you lose,” he said.

“I had expected a better performance. It is the World Cup where the top 12 teams play. We got to win games,” Pereira said. He blamed his team’s defeat on the missed opportunities.

Despite the 3-0 win against Argentina, star Dutch drag-flicker TaekeTaekema said it was a hard game. “We underperformed. We have to do better. It may be three-off-three (penalty corner conversions), but it is a small part of my game,” he said.

Like German skipper Muller, Taekema said the pitch was bumpy but he had got the hang of it during the warm-up games.