K Arumugam
Following India’s 1-4 semi-final defeat to Germany at the 2023 FIH Men’s Junior World Cup, CR Kumar, the head coach, put it down to a failure to finish off chances.
“We didn’t utilise the 13 penalty corner awards as well as some chances that fell to us,” he said with a rueful smile during the post-match media conference at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.
Despite dominating the first half, India went in 1-2 down, and the defence came up short in the second half as Germany added two more goals. “It was tough getting my messages through because of the noise from the crowd and the players made wrong decisions,” said Kumar. “The boys played a good first half and enjoyed the better statistics, especially with circle entries, and they fought till the final whistle.”
He agreed that the German switch to man-man marking in the second half had thrown his boys’ rhythm out of gear. “Now, we’re focused on a podium finish and a win in the bronze medal match (against Spain) on Saturday,” he said. “The management are clear we concentrate on the next game. That was the talk in the dressing room.”
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German Coach Praises Team for Tactical Switch
Rein van Eijk, Germany’s head coach, looked back to a tale of two halves. “India took us apart in the first half,” he said. “We should have been behind by three or four goals. We didn’t even know how to get back into the game.”
“But our second goal at the halftime hooter was a game-changer. We changed to man-to-man marking and killed the game because India did not know how to deal with that. My players did well to flick the switch.”
van Eijk revealed that his squad was provided an opportunity to interact with Paul Lissek, the iconic coaching guru, who had guided Germany to the first of their six Junior World Cup titles way back in 1982 in this very city.
“It’s a privilege to play in Malaysia and to see how hockey is loved and played here,” said van Eijk. “For some players, it will be their last event as juniors. The memories here will last forever and will bring smiles to cherish forever.”
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