The job for India, ahead of their final group match of the 2021 Junior hockey World Cup, is a clear one. They must not only win their game against Poland but also every match going forward if they are to retain the world cup title they won in 2016. Poland isn't the strongest opponent in the competition, yet after a shock loss in their first match against France, the Indian side will be looking to cover all bases before the tougher matches they face ahead.
Tougher route to the title
India's pre-tournament path to the title appeared to be a relatively straightforward one. Should they have topped their pool as was to be expected, they would have faced - on paper at least -- a relatively easy match in the quarterfinal before a potentially tricky one against the Netherlands in the semifinals. An opening day loss against France has ruled that permutation out. Even if India beat Poland, their only chance of topping the table lies in France losing to Canada - a relatively unlikely prospect. Should India finish in second place, they will almost certainly face Belgium in a repeat of the 2016 final. "We can't do anything about that now (defeat to France). If we have to win back-to-back titles, we will have to beat every team henceforth. After losing to France it became clear to us that we need to win every match going forward to win back to back titles. It gave us a bit of clarity," coach Graham Reid said.
Poland threat
Although Poland has a win against Canada, the side (whose senior team is ranked 26th in the world) isn't expected to pose a serious threat on Saturday. While India racked up their second biggest win in the Junior World Cup (13-1) against Canada, Poland only narrowly beat the Canadians 1-0. Moreover the Poles are coming off a comprehensive 7-1 defeat against France.
While India will face the prospect of a Belgium clash in the quarters, the team isn't looking that far ahead. "We will not like to think ahead of us, we have a match against Poland before that and that's what we will be thinking about. We have to win that before we think about the next stage," coach Reid was quoted as saying.
Better finishing
While India will expect to win their final match, they would also wish to get things in order before the last eight stage. "It is a learning experience for the boys. Every match is one experience. That's what I have always been telling the senior players as well," Reid said. Despite conceding 5 goals against France, India had enough opportunities themselves. They had their share of hard luck - shots twice ricocheted off the posts. There was also missed traps in taking penalty corners while also facing some excellent goal line defence from the opponents. Reid has made it clear he wants to improve on the team's finishing. "We are creating enough opportunities. We need to work on the conversion rate," he said
More game time
One reason for the team's lack of sharpness in their opening game was probably the lack of match practice they had - apart from games against the senior squad before the Olympics, the junior team had not played a match for the last couple of years. Reid admitted this as well.
"We missed out on this learning phase for a couple of years due to the pandemic, but it was good, we learned quickly (following the match against France)" he said. That lack of game sense resulted in basic errors that went on to cost the team heavily. "It is hard to get coordination if the basics are not right. At the back, we gave them (France) too many easy balls deep in our territory."
While India were much improved against Canada, Reid would want his side to get even sharper. Canada were not able to make the most of the breaks they got, the squad will want to ensure Poland - and subsequently perhaps Belgium -- will not get even that opportunity either. "We are a bit leaky at the back. We need to be stronger and get in front a little more. We were better against Canada. The best way to learn is to make mistakes. We learned from our loss to France," Reid said.