Set to play for the bottom half positions in the 12-team hockey World Cup in New Delhi, India coach Jose Brasa on Saturday said the country would not have played at the same level of top teams in just seven months of preparation.
India coach Jose Brasa said his boys made some childish mistakes that saw the hosts go down 2-5 to Spain on Thursday and jeopardised their Hockey World Cup hopes.
Modern hockey experts may feel that penalty corners are the most potent weapon to win matches, but famed Dutch drag-flicker Taeke Taekema thinks otherwise.
Indian team is currently one of the strongest sides in last 10 years and they are capable of winning the hockey World Cup, England captain Barry Middletone said.
India coach Jose Brasa hailed his men for "playing with the brain and not emotions" in the 4-1 outplaying of Pakistan in their thrilling hockey World Cup opening match in New Delhi but advised them not to get carried away by Sunday's result.
Spain captain Pol Amat said they were always in control of their first hockey World Cup match against South Africa despite the half-time score of 2-2 but need to improve their performance in remaining matches if they are to qualify for semifinals.
India has improved a lot in sorting out the old malaise of conceding last-minute goals and it would help the home side in reaching the semifinals of the hockey World Cup starting on Sunday, captain Rajpal Singh said.
Argentine penalty-corner specialist Pedro Ibarra thinks highly of Sandeep Singh and says that the Indian drag-flicker would be one of the stars to watch out for in the ensuing hockey World Cup.