Reid said that experience is given more importance in a tournament like the World Cup
India coach Graham Reid on Thursday said the hosts should be worried about the lesser-experienced players of Spain in their tournament opener as experience is over-valued in a tournament as big as the World Cup. Most of Spain’s players have played less than 100 international matches while India have a good mix of experienced players and young players with more than 100 international matches. Former Australian international player Reid said that it is not necessary that being an experienced player, you will perform brilliantly.
Nothing can take the place of playing the ‘best’ hockey after the match, he said. Reid said in the pre-match press conference, “This is our home World Cup, we have to do our best. We feel that we can win this tournament and for this it is necessary to do so. We have to show our best game and that is important.
Reid said, “Be careful with Spain because they can perform much better than you think.” They have nothing to lose and you have to be careful with them. This is the reality.” World number six India will open their campaign against Spain on Friday in a Pool A match at the newly constructed Birsa Munda Stadium. The team then has to face England on January 15 and Wales on January 20. Captain Harmanpreet said that this is a good chance for the Indian players to win the World Cup at home.
He said, “Playing in India is a win-win situation as the crowd will support us. The World Cup is very important, it happens every four years. You never know when you will get a chance to play for India again in the World Cup. You have to take advantage of the opportunity and try to win the match. ”Harmanpreet, who is one of the top drag-flickers in the world, said that applying the right strategy against the opposition after the match will prove to be crucial in the team’s performance.
He said, “Most of the teams play with a mixed strategy. The sooner we can read how our opponents are playing, the better it will be for our performance.” Harmanpreet said, “The matches against Spain in the Pro League last year were good and we did well. It is our endeavor to continue with that framework and execute our plans well which we are doing. The performance level has also been maintained.
