Despite losses, Brasa wins hearts

Uthra G Chaturvedi

Right after India drew 3-3 against South Africa in their last league game, displeasure was written all over coach Jose Brasa’s face. He was seen animatedly shouting to his players to score the winning goal during the final minutes of the game but as the media approached him he went uncharacteristically silent. He seemed let down by his team but he wasn’t in a mood to express his feeling in words.
It wasn’t unusual since Brasa, who has been known to back his players to the hilt on international circuit, was just being himself. People who have known him from the days he rose to fame by taking Spain’s women’s team to the Olympic title at home in 1992 point this is a reason for his popularity with the team he has coached.

Former Spanish World Cupper Jose Borrell recalls Brasa’s biggest day as a coach in Barcelona 18 years ago. “That day, when the team finally won, I saw Brasa sitting on the bench and crying like a child. He wasn’t shy to express the joy he got from seeing his team win. It was all bottled up and finally he was letting it out. He gets totally involved with the team and that’s the secret of his success,” says Borell.

He goes on to call Brasa the biggest motivator he has ever met. “He knows exactly what to say when the team is down. That’s the reason players give him 100 per cent all the time,” he adds.

Enduring passion

FIH master coach Maurits Hendriks, who has been Spain’s national coach in the past, speaks about Brasa’s passion for the team he is associated with. “It is visible in the way he works with the team. I have known him at Madrid and I know he is one of the few people who retain the absolute passion that is necessary to go that extra step.”

Brasa isn’t averse to speaking his mind even if it means rubbing people the wrong way. Within days of being appointed the Indian national coach he spoke about the need to fine tune the basics of the team that was full of several old hands. He knew he walking on thin ice when he criticised the officials for not providing the team with basic training equipment.

Despite several controversies in the lead-up the World Cup, the team has shown marked improvement. FIH certified Pakistan coach Tahir Zaman is impressed by the show put up by the Indians. “In the last 20 years I haven’t the kind of open aggression that this team is showing,” he says. Pakistan striker Rehan Butt seconds his views. “This Indian team is very, very different from the one that we played against few months back despite the fact that the team has same set of players,” says Butt.

The Indians players too have high regard for the coach. “I think he has done great work with the team, he is a great coach,” says Arjun Halappa, who has been an international players for the 10 years now.

Skipper Rajpal Singh avoids the question about the need to give Brasa a long-term contract but he does says, “Every good coach should stay longer to make a difference, and Brasa is a good coach.”