Bengaluru, Dec 26 : Playing the home team in a crucial match of the World Cup is a very difficult proposition and the current chief coach of the Indian men’s hockey team had to face this daunting task as a member of Australia men’s team that won the bronze medal in the 1990 edition in Lahore, Pakistan.
Australia played hosts Pakistan in the semifinal and lost 1-2 as the hosts reached the final in which they lost to the Netherlands 3-1 at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore.
With only a few weeks to go for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, Hockey India’s Favourite World Cup Memory Series concluded with Graham Reid getting candid about his experience at the 1990 Hockey World Cup held in Lahore, where he represented Australia.After winning gold in the previous edition in 1986, they defeated West Germany to win the bronze medal.
Australia had topped their pool with victories over Argentina, France, the Soviet Union, India, and even the Netherlands, who went on to win the tournament by defeating hosts Pakistan in an epic World Cup Final in 1990.
“It was really special to play in Lahore.The hockey stadium was incredible, it was quite like Bhubaneswar and to see it full was something special.My memory (of that World Cup) is more from the final day when we played the bronze medal match against West Germany and Pakistan played the final against the Netherlands.The Stadium was totally chokers, full of people everywhere,” recalled Reid as he got nostalgic.
“People had climbed up the peripheral walls and on top of the roofs.In the semifinals, we played Pakistan and they scored in the first 4-5 mins of the match and the crowd just erupted.It was quite a daunting task to play them as the home team.
Whenever Shahbaz (Ahmed) got the ball and ran down the pitch, the crowd would go ballistic.As a foreign team playing in that atmosphere, it was quite an amazing experience,” Reid was quoted as saying by Hockey India in a release.
He drew comparisons on handling the pressure due to the sheer magnitude of the event, having been a part of this mega quadrennial event as a coach since 2010.
Reid described how the Australian team prepared for the 1990 World Cup with the expectation of raucous spectators in mind, drawing a parallel to the atmosphere that can be expected in Rourkela and Bhubaneswar this January, where tickets for India matches sold out within the first 24 hours of going on sale.
“In the lead-up, we played smaller games, and played silently — we were not allowed to talk.A recording of the crowd on loudspeakers would play in the background and we learnt not to rely on calling out but had to get used to turning around and looking.
We had to learn to blanket out the sound.And this time in Odisha, it will be just as important for us to be prepared for the crowd,” he said.
Another fond memory for Reid was playing against Indian great Jagbir Singh during that prestigious event in 1990 and scoring a goal against India made it extra special for him.
“I remember playing against India and playing against Jagbir.When we squared off at the beginning, I remember wishing him.We shared a good rapport.I happened to score a goal in that game and it was a highlight for me because scoring goals when you are playing as an inside forward in those days wasn’t as prolific as it is today,” he remarked candidly.
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