Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) India coach Jose Brasa is expecting a tough fight from the Argentines in their classification match for the seventh-eight places in the Hockey World Cup here Friday.
“Argentina have scored lot of goals in the tournament but they have also conceded a lot. It will be a different match against Argentines. They will surely give us a tough fight,” said the Spaniard on the eve of his team’s game at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here.

“We have beaten them in their backyard in Salta. I will be sad, but not surprised, if we lose against them.”

Asked if he expects a rough match against the South Americans, Brasa said: “I don’t think they have used their body like the Australians. In my view, the Australians were very rough in this tournament.”

Brasa went on to add that a seventh place would be an improvement for India, even though his boys had dreamt of a semi-final finish.

“Semi-final was a dream, but it was a tough one. But even if we finish seventh, it would be a big improvement, although a small one. Fifth-sixth place finishes would also have been good, but we would be satisfied to finish seventh or eighth,” he said.

Brasa said a lot needs to be changed if India want favourable results.

“We have to change a lot of things. The day we can do that, India will be a much improved team. But I must say that team is playing well but we still have a long way to go. All throughout the tournament, we have played in an attacking way,” he said.

Asked about the proposed bilateral series with Pakistan, he said: “Pakistan failed to recover from their loss against India. But I must say they are not a bad team. They are our neighbours and it would be good to play against them.”