I decided to stop watching at half time because we weren't playing too well. Indonesia are a really weak team (much weaker than most club sides in Asia!), but we just seemed to mess things up in the circle. However, I was amazed (and delighted) to see the final score. Let's hope we improve and give Malaysia a good fight in the semi final.
Of the newcomers, only Pavan Rajhbar looks a good prospect. Hoping Uttam Singh and VishnuKant put in some good performances in the remaining 2 matches, but not too much promise from the others. Of the experienced players, Nilam Sanjeep Xess has been pathetic. Today he picked up a yellow card with a terrible tackle well inside the Indonesian half! Why tackle on the wrong side there? No threat to our circle and a couple of colleagues were facing the opposition player. This kind of nonsense just doesn't go away. Raj Kumar Pal was pretty poor too.
Coaching matters, even if the domestic talent development may be a bigger problem. (But I assume you were not saying that we shouldn't have a national coach who is a proven foreign commodity, ssp)
Yes, I'm ok with foreign coaches for the main teams -men and women, seniors and juniors- but in domestic hockey we need much better coaches. In today's game Sardar should have tried PC variations because Nilam Sanjeep Xess wasn't going to sore. Luckily, Dipsan Tirkey came to the rescue. It was difficult to find space in the Indonesian circle as they had so many player defending, so the best option was to create PCs and score via variations. With no threat from Indonesia, I'd have moved Birendra into midfield from Q2 onwards. He can control possession and create much more from there than deep defence- again something Sardar didn't pick up early enough.
Sad to see Pakistan eliminated from the WC. I know they have beaten us badly in the past, but as a fan of Asian hockey, it would have been nice to see them qualify. They should have beaten Japan by 2-3 goals at least. Sub-continental madness was in full glory from them today.