Bhubaneswar : , India takes on Poland in the final match in Pool B at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup at Kalinga Stadium here.Their victory secured them a place for the quarter-finals. Both India and Poland have three points from two matches.The Indians are ahead in goal difference with the Indians.
France is on top of the standings, with six points from two matches.They are almost certain of their place in quarters.
They will face Canada in an earlier match on Sunday.
India had lost 4-5 against France in their first match, but they came back strong to defeat Canada 13-1 in their two preliminary league matches.
Poland defeated Canada 1-0 in their opening match, and lost to France 1-7 on Wednesday.
Because of their superior goal difference, Saturday’s match is a virtual shootout between India and Poland.India can still progress with a draw.
Graham Reid’s boys would love to beat Poland by a large margin.It will also serve as a morale booster before facing Belgium, which is likely to be the top seed in Pool A based on their performance in their first match.
Reid stated that his boys are looking forward to Saturday’s match.
“If we beat Poland on Saturday we may face Belgium at the next stage.To win the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 20,21, you have to beat everyone.
We realized that to win back to back titles, we must win every game after losing to France.He said that it gave him a little clarity.
Reid stated that they will accept the challenge of playing against Belgium.”It will be a challenge, but we aren’t looking too far ahead.Reid said that they are already thinking about the match against Poland.
Although Reid’s team appears solid on paper, they made basic mistakes against France.
They failed to capitalize on many opportunities and they missed several chances.The Indians will need to be proactive against Poland as Poland is expected crowd their half and to look for ways to counter-attack.
The Indians must also be careful not to concede early goals, like they did against France.They will also need to be more aggressive to keep Poland under pressure.
The Indian attack, led by Araijeet Singh Hundal, Utam Singh, and Manjeet Singh, will need to be at their best.Meanwhile the midfield of skipper Vivek Sgar Prasad as well as Maninder Singh must keep the forwards happy.
India has four excellent drag flickers, including Sanjay and Sharadanand Tiwari.They need to maintain a good rotation in order to keep rival defenders guessing at penalty corners.
The match against Poland is crucial but it will also prepare the team for the more difficult challenges ahead.To maintain their chances of meeting the knockout stages challenges head-on, the Indians will need to be alert on Saturday.
-IANS
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