New Delhi: India are good enough to win the hockey gold medal at Paris Olympics, feels legendary Pakistan player Hassan Sardar.
India have entered the semi-finals and would face Germany on Tuesday, beating Britain in a shootout on Sunday to raise hopes of their first hockey gold at Olympics in 44 years.
India claimed bronze at Tokyo 2020, their first medal in hockey in 21 years. Sardar believes they can improve on that now.
“When Pakistan is not playing cricket or hockey, I always support India. It’s a much better side and one of the best Indian teams I have seen. They have improved a lot and they are giving hard times to the Europeans.
“They (India) can win and they should win this Olympics,” the former centre forward, who played a key role in Pakistan’s gold win at 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, told PTI Bhasha.
“I am quite impressed with the way they have played against Australia. The Indian team is good. They should play as if they have gone there to win only. At this level it’s all about mental preparation,” he added.
Mental resilience
Sardar noted that the current Indian team is mentally tougher than previous teams, which enabled them to defend nearly 40 minutes with 10 men against Britain to force the match into a shootout, where they won 4-2.
“It is always difficult to play with 10 players and India did extremely well. Especially, the captain who is in top form. Their morale would be high after that match and they just have to play their natural game,” Sardar said, who netted a hat-trick as Pakistan thrashed India 7-1 in the 1982 Asian Games final.
The 66-year-old observed that India shouldn’t provide space to Germany to launch into swift counter-attacks.
“The Germans are a tough team. They are good on comebacks and are physically very strong. You can beat them with short passes, don’t allow them to counter-attack,” Sardar said.
“Focus should be on scoring more and more goals from penalty corners. If things are not going your way, just relax a bit and play like a unit. You don’t get time to regroup so quickly, adapt and move forward.”
India have entered the semi-finals and would face Germany on Tuesday, beating Britain in a shootout on Sunday to raise hopes of their first hockey gold at Olympics in 44 years. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
