Indian hockey coach proposes, captain disposes

Biswajyoti Brahma

NEW DELHI: Indian coach Jose Brasa on Thursday dismissed suggestions that there’s division in the team. Brasa was referring to an incident at the post-match press conference when captain Rajpal Singh dismissed the coach’s suggestion that the team needed a sports psychologist.

Brasa said that the team needed a psychologist who could help the players grow in confidence, focus on the game and understand their roles in the team better.

Rajpal promptly said: “We don’t need any such person.” The coach tried to play it down. “There’s no rift in the team and all are united,” he said. “You ask any player… they would say they don’t need a psychologist. But the reality is that there’s no team in the world which does not have a sports psychologist.” Brasa said the permission to have such a person in the squad was granted in September last year.

Brasa also said that he was not going to step down in the wake of speculation that he’s been sidelined and that his wings have been clipped. “I am not going to resign before the completion of my term in November – after the Asian Games. I don’t know what the authorities will do with me after the Commonwealth Games but I am not going to run away.”

Referring to the match against Australia, Brasa said his side played quite well in the first half.