The Indian Hockey Coach Analyses 2-1 Defeat to Netherlands

After losing the group match against Netherlands, India’s coach said that two yellow cards cost India the game.

India’s Ramandeep Singh, left, fights for the ball with Netherlands’ Sander De Wijn during a men’s field hockey match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo: AP)

India’s chief coach Roelant Oltmans on Thursday said that two yellow cards hurt the team badly and that resulted in India losing 1-2 to Netherlands in the pool B men’s hockey match at the Rio Olympic Games.

We were on the attacking side until we got two yellow cards, which was a game-changer. You had to fight with one or two less. That’s not only difficult to score a goal but it also took away a lot of energy from the players that I’m not happy about it.

Roelant Oltmans, Head Coach, India 

The Netherlands, world number two and London Olympics silver medallists, scored both their goals through penalty corners – Rogier Hoffman (32nd minute) and Mink van der Weerden (54th), while India’s lone goal came from VR Raghunath (38th).

Indian players celebrate after scoring a goal against Netherlands on Thursday. (Photo: AP)

The Indians dished out some valiant defending in the final stages of the third quarter when they were reduced to nine men. With little more than three minutes left for the quarter to end, SV Sunil and Raghunath had to sit out for five minutes after getting yellow cards from separate incidents.

We should be proud how tough we have made it. Tomorrow (against Canada in Pool B concluding match) you will see a fresh India.

Roelant Oltmans, Head Coach, India 

Trailing 1-2 with four minutes left, India withdrew goalkeeper PR Sreejesh for an additional forward and pressed hard for the equaliser. Their efforts bore fruit as India earned their fourth penalty corner six seconds from the hooter after appealing for a video referral.

That penalty corner resulted in four more back-to-back short corners but the Indian dragflick battery of Rupinder Pal Singh, who took four tries, and Raghunath failed to break the Dutch defence led by goalkeeper Jaap Stockmann.

Netherlands Mink Van Der Weerden, right, fights for the ball with India’s Sunil Sowmarpet. (Photo: PTI)

Talking about the two yellow cards, Oltmans said, “The first one was for pushing with the stick on the back of the defender. I’m not sure about that and the other one was for elbowing... I will have to see the replays.”

Oltmans too shared his thoughts behind calling off goal-keeper PR Sreejesh.

When we were in Spain we played last four minutes without the goalkeeper. The players are used to it. So far we have created a lot of opportunities in the matches we have played. Don’t worry about penalty corners, every match we’ve been able to convert them.

Roelant Oltmans, Head Coach, India 

Sreejesh said it is an usual strategy that the teams apply when they are trailing.

It’s no surprise. It’s normal strategy. When we are trailing, we have to build pressure so as to negate the numerical disadvantage. We have to wait for them to make a mistake and score a goal. Last four minutes, we got five PCs.

PR Sreejesh, Captain, India

On the missed penalty corners, Sreejesh said, “That’s the difference between the win and loss. We should have converted in the dying moments. We still have one more match in the league round. We will concentrate on improving. We got opportunities. We could control the game even when we’re down to nine players. But unfortunately we could not convert for a 2-2 draw.”