It was almost perfect performance from India: Nobbs

NEW DELHI: India coach Michael Nobbs termed his team’s comprehensive 6-2 win over France as “clinical and almost perfect” and said the hosts will look to play a slightly different hockey against Canada on Wednesday.

“It was almost perfect and a clinical performance, we showed a lot of intensity and I am happy. It is roughly the score I was looking for before the match. Of course we could have scored more goals, we had more opportunities and we need to be more thorough in finishing the goals,” Nobbs told reporter after the match on Tuesday.

“We are improving with each game, we are forcing the opponents in committing errors and cutting down on our unforced errors. Every match is important for us and we need to win all of them, if we don’t win, we don’t go to London,” he added.

Nobbs said it is still early days and vowed that this team will reach the top in another 18 months time.

“I have started coaching just for the last six months, we have a very young bunch of players and I know in 18 months time we will be a sensational team,” he said.

Asked if he was happy with the pace of the game, Nobbs said, “we are playing a very pacy game and we have maintained the pace all through out the match, infact we have looked to raise the tempo when necessary midway in the match.”

Nobbs also praised SV Sunil saying, “Sunil does amazing things on the field. He has become an integral part of the team.”

Vice-captain and star midfielder Sardar Singh said he was happy with the performance but insisted on the need to work on the mistakes.

“We gave away two easy goals and we will look to work on those mistakes. I am not thinking anything about the next match against Canada. My body is also getting into rhythm and we will see how it goes in the last two matches,” he said.

Star drag-flicker Sandeep Singh, who scored a hat-trick on Tuesday, said he is focusing on each match at a time. “I am focusing on one match at a time, we have never lost to Canada and we will try to maintain that,” Sandeep added.