“December 18 match is the biggest game for these boys. I would fold my hands and request them to show their character on that day. They need to decide which colour medal they want to see hanging in their necks,” Harendra said after the semifinal win over Australia in a tough shootout yesterday.
Indian men’s senior team chief coach Roelant Oltmans, who is the manager of the junior side here and is also an integral part of the coaching set-up, called on the Harjeet Singh-led side to show their “perfect” hockey.
“Now it’s time for the perfect game and that we are going to show on Sunday. Our players will bring their best hockey in the most important match of the competition,” Oltmans said.
Besides the momentum, the Indians would also rely on the crowd support. The city knows its hockey and 15,000 odd fans never gave up hope and kept on cheering when India trailed in the last two games against Spain and Australia.
After a lacklustre performance against Spain in the quarterfinals, Indian colts dished out their best hockey of the tournament so far against Australia but come tomorrow the hosts would aim to raise the bar further.
India’s forwardline was impressive yesterday with Gurjant Singh and Mandeep Singh scoring two fantastic reverse hit goals, while the midfield was under the control of skipper Harjeet Singh.
