"It was a wonderful day for Indian hockey! I am really proud." India's men's hockey coach, Michael Nobbs, reacted after a successful performance from the Indians after the London Olympics 2012 debacle. The positive reaction has come on Thursday in the wake of India's phenomenal victory over Belgium, which put catapulted them to the semi-finals. This has resulted in the Indians being just a single win away from Champions Trophy medal after a gap of 30 years. The performance of Indian hockey team has declined in the past few years with just one or two trophies to their credit.
Champions Trophy has evaded India for sure after its last attempt ended in a bronze, which was way back in 1982. However, if India wins another one in Australia, then it will prove to be even more valuable to it because of the fact that the ignominious last-place finish at the London Olympics just three months back. To top it all in the gap of just 100-odd days will be something that will be no less than a remarkable feat. A team that was feared by any opposition few decades back has plunged to an all-time low few years back. The current performance indicates some salvation under the direction of coach Nobbs.
Nobbs was, more specifically, elated with the way India's defence held up throughout the game, especially vice-captain and full-back VR Raghunath has lived up to the expectations and has come good for the team when it mattered the most.
"It was a wonderful performance, especially by the defence. Raghu was great. I think that ranks as one of his best performances for India," a satisfied India coach said. Considering the fact that the team was in the fray with strong teams like Germany, the performance was still good as it matched on par with other teams such as New Zealand and Australia.
But the slender 1-0 victory over Belgium was not without near sudden deaths, with the Belgians striving hard for the equaliser in the final 15 minutes of the game, precisely when India had both Gurvinder Singh Chandi and skipper Sardar Singh sent off. Nobbs was obviously miffed with that.
"The last 15 minutes were excruciatingly difficult for me, especially when Chandi decided to get himself sent off and Sardar got sent off because [goalkeeper] PT Rao started to attack the umpire, so Sardar got a team foul. How many other ways could we find to lose a game," Nobbs detailed, signaling that seasoned players like Chandi need to be more cautious and youngsters like PT Rao need to get into the act as well.
"Anyway a great day," Nobbs said with a sigh of reprieve.
But facing Australia in the semis will be India's biggest task yet in the entire tournament. The young Indian side will have to display its best skills and India's defence at the back will have to provide a thick edge to it.
Pakistan will be pitted against Netherlands in the other semi-final, which indicates that we might witness Indo-Pak final if both the Asian majors win over the favourites.
