Pakistan lack of fight surprising

India coach Jose Brasa was pleased with his team’s comprehensive display versus Pakistan in the World Cup opener.

By Adarsh Vinay

Jose Brasa was his jovial self after India registered an emphatic 4-1 victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in their encounter at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Sunday night. He was all praise for the team. "We played very well, especially in the first half. We made lots of chances and we thoroughly deserved our 2-0 lead at the break," said the Spanish coach.

But the Spaniard was surprised by the lack of fight shown by Pakistan. The visitors were completely outplayed and, for the majority, the match seemed one-sided. "The match was easier than I expected. I did not think we would have it so simple. But credit to the team, we played well and we deserve the win."

Brasa was especially pleased with the fact that the team kept its emotions in check against their bitter rivals. "I am satisfied with the way they played the game. They controlled their emotions and were very calm throughout," he said. India had lost to Pakistan 7-1 in the 1982 Asian Games at the National Stadium.

India captain Rajpal Singh was equally jubilant with the result. When asked if he thought the result would be so lopsided, he joked that he expected the margin to be higher. But on a serious note, he said he was very happy with the team's performance.

"We dominated the whole game. We stuck to our strategy. We planned to play short passes and that worked for us. Our forward line combined well while building up the attack," said the 26-year-old skipper.

The Indian captain summed up the win in one line: "They were good, but we were better."

Indo-Pak encounter excites Vogels

The much anticipated India-Pak encounter will be one of the most exciting matches of World Cup, feels Guus Vogels.

The veteran Dutch goalkeeper Vogels said even though the Netherlands open their campaign the next day against Argentina, it won't stop him from watching the sub-continent rivals lock horns at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi on Sunday.

"The India-Pakistan match would definitely be an exciting one. This match will eventually decide the standing of Pool A.

I will definitely watch it," said the 34-year-old custodian.

Even though Vogels was not certain about India's chances in the prestigious tournament, he feels Pakistan would be a tough contender to deal with during the February 28-March 13 event.

"We played two practice games against Pakistan in Doha before the World Cup and both the matches were tight. Pakistan is very strong in counter attack and no team can afford to give them space. In Sohail Abbas, Pakistan has one of the best drag-flickers in the world," he said. .

Vogels have all the major medals in his cupboard, including four Champions Trophy titles, two Olympic gold and a European championship crown.

But a World title has always eluded him and the 34-year-old, who will retire after the tournament, said that they will leave no stone unturned to win the tournament, which would be a perfect farewell to his career.

"World Cup is a nice goal because after this tournament I will retire and I want to retire as a world champion," said Vogels, who was a member of the Netherlands side that won back-to-back golds at 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2000 Sydney Games.

"I have played for the country for the last 14 years and I am the number one goalkeeper for the last 10 years. So, I feel that its time for me to move on," he added.

Vogels said though the Dutch hockey has gone down in the last couple of years, there is very little gap between the top teams of the world.

"We have had some disappointments over the last few years. It all started from the last World Cup in Monchengladbach (Germany), but the difference between top four teams is minimal.

"We could not train back home because during winter the pitch was frozen but we practiced in South Africa. We have had a good preparation. So far our first goal is semifinal and from there on we will see," he said.

Another controversy rocks team India

Organisers of a charity event claimed that the Indian players demanded Rs 5 crore to feature in the matches.

The national team members, however, denied the allegation.

Hardeep Sandhu, a member of the organiser committe of AMR foundation, today claimed that hockey players led by Prabhjot Singh, Rajpal Singh and Deepak Thaukar were demanding a Rs 5 crore to play in the four charity matches of 15 minutes each featuring Bollywood and TV stars.

"AMR foundation had roped in 22 players to feature in four exhibition matches with Bollywood and TV stars but when yesterday one of the representatives of the organisers handed them the flight tickets from New Delhi to Chandigarh, a group of players told they don't want these tickets as they are not gaining anything," Sandhu said.

"Players said they were expecting 4 to 5 crore from sponsorship. Now that not much sponsors are coming, they refused to play. The organisers are very upset as despite written agreement they are backing out," he added.

However, Prabhjot, Rajpal and Deepak rubbished the allegations and after landing here said they would have a meeting with the organisers and also demanded an apology from the organisers.

"This is absolutely baseless. It baffles me why organisers are making such allegations at this moment. I smell a conspiracy here. There is no demand of money, we know it is charity match," Rajpal said.

"We will be meeting the organisers and playing the match is secondary issue now. It is a big allegations that have been leveled against the players and organizers should clarify.

That is why only there players have come and rest are in Delhi," he added.

AMR Foundation spokesman Ansul Nagar said that there was no particular deal and they had just planned to give the sponsorship money from the charity match to the players.

"There was no deal. There was an emotional call, where in we would be having this event in which all sponsors would come in, all money would be given to the players directly and now they are talking about 4-5 crores," he said.

Deepak, on the other hand, said that some of the players were not given flight tickets and they had demanded for the tickets and also claimed that the organisers had not confirmed their participation.

"Why it has erupted I don't know. The only point that we had is a couple of players were not given tickets and we wanted they should be given the tickets. Organisers should apologise for the allegations," he said.

Captaincy row a media hype

Midfielder Tushar Khandekar says all is well with the Indian team and Rajpal has been accepted as captain.

By Anshul Baijal

Even if the authorities prefer to keep the media away from the training sessions of the Indian team, Tushar Khandekar claims all is well in the camp ahead of the upcoming World Cup.

At a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday where ING Life Insurance was revealed as a hockey World Cup sponsor, Khandekar said the issues that threatened to derail the team's preparation for the World Cup, have been sorted and team spirit was "at its best."

While saying the salary issue was a thing of the past, Khandekar says the captaincy row was a "media creation." The mercurial Indian midfielder hinted coach Jose Brasa was unnecessary dragged into the row by the media. It was widely reported that the Spaniard wanted Prabhjot Singh as skipper instead of Rajpal Singh.

Khandekar said: "We are firmly behind Rajpal and any talk about camps in the team is incorrect. We are united and the spirit is great."

India will be hosting the World Cup in Delhi from February 28. The home team plays Pakistan on Day 1 and Khandekar's claims that is all is fine will be tested for sure.

Khandekar, however, says that India won't be treating the Pakistan match any differently. The emotions will surely be high, but Khandekar said: "We want to perform well against all the teams. Every match is important for us. I don't know why so much importance is given to the game against Pakistan."

India will surely be counting on home support but Khandekar said India have tried new techniques under Brasa. "We have been trying different things at practice sessions. The European teams play a physical game and we are well prepared to deal with it."

Khandekar added: "The best teams in the world play an open game, they rely on long passes and are very good with penalty corners. We have also tried to work on these areas and hopefully we can deliver the goods when the time comes."

Adaptation is the key at the highest level and more so at a tournament like a World Cup. Khandekar says the team has can shift gears whenever required. "We can play Asian style when required and will not be bogged down by powerful teams like Australia who play a very physical game."