Hockey World Cup 2023 Coach Graham Reid praises defense after India beats Spain

After India defeated Spain, Hockey World Cup 2023 Coach Gram Rhaeid praised the defence.

At the press conference following the game, Reid stated, "We did practise playing with 10 men as we believed at some time in the tournament we were going to play with 10 men.

In their 2-0 victory over a tenacious Spain in their FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2023 opening in Rourkela, India's head coach Graham Reid stated his team checked off most of the necessary boxes.He also commended the home team's defensive efforts to prevent any opportunities for the opposition.

"The lads were successful in removing the ball from the goal. The start seemed promising. It's fantastic to receive the first game, and it's over now, so we can go on.At the news conference following the game, Reid remarked, "Now concentrate on the next game.

We did practise playing with 10 guys since we anticipated doing so at some time during the competition. It was great. We accomplished a lot today, and that was crucial. We had the ball first, which is quite important in games of these nature.

Today's defensive effort and excellent ball handling are the two things that are appealing. There weren't many players who weren't really good. You need something to win the World Cup. He said, "We need to carry that into the next game."

India's second Pool D encounter will take place against England on Sunday at the Birsa Munda Stadium.

The performances of both goalkeepers, PR Sreejesh and Krishan Bahadur Pathak, pleased the Australian as well.

The way we have been playing is to blame. I am quite pleased with both keepers' great performances. The answer referred to Sreejesh, who was already considered one of the game's legends, and he remarked with a wry smile, "They are pushing one other."

"I want both of them to have life options, so that if they are both doing well and something were to happen to one of them, the other would be able to fill in very quickly," said the player.

There are several advantages.

Reid also made a suggestion that the Indian side is headed for future success.

"I do a lot of things as a coach and attempt to repair issues and seal gaps repeatedly over the course of two years."

Although I am a huge believer in mentality, and many of the tactical concerns we ended up addressing can be easily remedied if you have a strong mindset, the difficulty is that you never know which one will solve the problem.

There was pace, and the team's turn moved in the correct direction, he claimed.

The best teams in the world make decisions on the field of play, and I believe that is what happens when I am the coach. It's like sending your kids outside to run around and make errors while you correct them afterwards.

But they must also accept responsibility. Before the shirt presentation, Harmanpreet Singh delivered a fantastic statement, in which he mentioned that everyone of us needs to be a cannonball, like we did today. Simply said, we must continue to expand on it.

In reference to a previous metaphor, he stated, "On that Australian visit, we shot 15 rounds, and perhaps we have located a few cannon balls today."

He was making reference to the five-match series that India played valiantly in but ultimately lost 1-4. India scored 15 goals in the series.

Also pleased with the team's strong defensive effort was captain Harmanpreet.

"We constantly stress the value of having a solid defence, and we achieved it."

When we were short one guy, none of the boys made any dumb mistakes, and they all performed admirably (in the final quarter). We practised boxing, as the teacher advised, and that was beneficial, he said.

The captain acknowledged his own shortcomings, saying, "Yes, I failed to convert the PCs and also missed a penalty shot." But that was all part of the game, so I need to go on and forget about it.