Belgium : Indian men’s hockey team’s chief coach Paul van Ass feels from the word go the Sardar Singh-led side needs to put pressure on the opponents in order to secure positive results in the FIH World League Semi-finals to be held here from June 20 to July 5. The Dutchman stressed on the need to score early goals to put pressure on their rivals.
“The practice matches were a huge learning for the team. While we won the match against France we narrowly lost to Belgium. But what came out for me from the matches was that we have to increase the pressure on the opponents from the start,” Van Ass said.
“We need to work on getting more penalty corners apart from looking at the capitalising on opportunities inside the opposition circle.
“While the boys did a good job in the practice matches in breaking the opposition defence, they need to ensure they yield results. Getting the initial goal in our name will help us build the pressure,” he added.
He was also pleased with the way Indian defence, its perennial problem, fared in the practice matches.
“The defence looked strong in both the matches. While we conceded two goals against Belgium, the positive that I take from the game was that the boys have now started to close the gaps,” Van Ass said.
