India appears to be like to proceed successful momentum towards Spain in Professional League

Indian males’s hockey staff will purpose for a disciplined effort and keep away from pointless playing cards when it takes on Spain within the FIH Professional League right here on Sunday.

The Indians produced an excellent fight-back within the opener towards New Zealand on Friday, rallying from 1-3 deficit to eke out an in depth 4-3 win on the Kalinga Stadium. The hosts can be keen to hold ahead the momentum.

Down 1-3, skipper Harmanpreet Singh (forty second) and Mandeep Singh (52nd, 57th) discovered the web handy India a morale-boosting win. Mandeep Mor (14th) was the opposite aim scorer for the hosts.

Nevertheless it gained’t be simple towards Spain as within the earlier season, India misplaced 3-5 to the identical opponents within the second match of the double-leg tie after registering a 5-4 victory within the opening sport.

The Indians must be little disciplined on the again and keep away from conceding penalty corners and foul contained in the circle, leading to playing cards — the way in which Sumit acquired on Friday — forcing the hosts to play the final seven minutes of the match with 10 males.

India’s chief coach Graham Reid is aware of the potential of the Spanish gamers and mentioned his staff can’t afford a drop in momentum in your entire 60 minutes of the match.

“Spain is a robust facet and has the flexibility to bounce again from any state of affairs. It’s necessary for us to maintain up the tempo in all quarters and never drop the momentum at any level within the match,” Reid mentioned.

“I like how we completed the sport (towards New Zealand) and the staff’s self-belief coming to the fore. It’s by no means simple to bounce again from a state of affairs that we have been in towards New Zealand nevertheless it exhibits the staff’s preventing spirit.

“Nevertheless it’s necessary we play all 4 quarters with that very same depth,” he added.

For Spain will probably be back-to-back matches as they play New Zealand of their first Professional League sport right here on Saturday.

Spain’s Argentine coach Max Caldas is conscious of the menace India pose however mentioned the guests are motivated to do effectively.

“India is an excellent facet, they’ve carried out effectively within the latest previous, together with a medal on the Olympic Video games. They show good talent and velocity. Having mentioned that, we’re a motivated facet,” Caldas mentioned.

“We’ve got ready effectively and our focus would be the processes we’ve in place and executing them effectively. Each match within the Professional League is necessary for us,” he added.