Asian Games: India frittered away chances against Pak, says Terry Walsh

Incheon The Pakistanis may not have played many international matches in the runup to the Asian Games but they certainly seemed to have come with a better plan to make up for all the lost time during which they neither played the World Cup nor the Commonwealth Games India captain Sardar Singh is tackled by Pakistans Umar Bhutta in a Pool B league match of the Asian Games in Incheon yesterday PicPTIIn contrast India which has had a steady build up with a Word Cup appearance and a silver at the Commonwealth Games seemed to lack a plan and frittered away chances in the words of their coach Terry WalshPakistan won 21 as Muhammad Bhutta and Waqas Muhammad scored for Pakistan and in between Nikkin Thimmaiah scored for IndiaThe Indians were just not able to make good their chances nor did they show an inclination to take charge while the Pakistanis cleverly exploited the holes in Indian defenceBut then the absence of injured Rupinder Pal ndash who may not be available for the rest of the tournament ndash may have also played on the teams mind as skipper and playmaker Sardar Singh kept hanging backIt was a tale of missed chances as Ramandeep Singh seemed to be the biggest culprit not being able to utilise the chances that came his way He failed to trap cleanly and then also hung on to the ball a bit too long Then Akashdeep Singh hit straight to goalkeeper Imran Butt from closeVR Raghunath looking heavier than he ought to be wasted the penalty corners while Sardar was not allowed to function And of course Rupinder was sorely missed in the defencePakistan too missed chances as Waqas with only Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh to beat hit his reverse shot wideFormer Pakistan captain Shahnaz Sheikh now the coach is a threetime Asian Games gold medallist and extremely shrewd observer of the game He said The Indian defenders were a bit lethargic and we know they were also bulky And we know Sardar Singh is their best player who can create moves so we targeted himClearly shaken by the defeat ndash Indias first against Pakistan after he took over as a coach ndash Walsh met the media a little before Shahnaz and admitted We did not play well We did not play as well as we should have We did not create enough chances and also frittered away a few positional phases we got We did not play at the level Pakistan played and with the same intensity I have to admit that But lets give credit to Pakistan They played very well and played it as if it was a final We did not take the chances and they didProdded on Sardar he said In my view Sardar was not as creative as he can be Manpreet Singh was more impressiveWalsh tried to soften the blow saying It was a threepoint game thats what the game was about Now we have got a huge game on hand against China We have to win that match to reach the semi finals Its not going to be an easy game as China are a tough team to beatWhen pushed and asked why the Indians did not seem pumped up and their body language was not as positive Walsh refused to accept that and said I cant say they were not as excited as they can be You should have been in the locker rook to see that They were all keyed up But we made a lot of errors and did not handle the ball wellWhen asked whether he was worried at the possibility of meeting hosts South Korea who are likely to top the other group in the semi finals Walsh said If we want to win the gold we have to win against all teams He also said the defeat did not mean India cannot win the gold and book a berth to Rio Olympics I still believe we can win the tournament We need to get to the semis first and then win the matches we need toShahnaz called it the best match of the tournament so far ndash that was only natural for these two teams and Korea are hoping to secure an Olympic berth from here by winning goldThe first two quarters failed to produce a goal and it was in the third that Muhammad Umar Bhutta gave the defending champions the lead scoring off the rebound following Waqas first attempt having been saved by SreejeshIndia stung by the goal looked good in the last quarter First Danish Mujtaba came close to scoring in the 49th minute off a deflection from Kothajit Singh which Butt saved well Then finally Nikkin Thimmaiah scored off a cross from Kothajit cross on the leftBarely had India heaved a sigh of relief when Waqas reversehit caught the Indian defence offguard and the lead was back with PakistanThe win virtually assured Pakistans top position in Pool B while India will spend sleepless nights till they beat China to make the semifinals Incidentally Pakistan managed only a 20 win over China With three wins from as many games Pakistan are leading Pool B and expected to finish unbeaten in the pool as they face lowly Oman in their last matchIndia and China have six points each and will need to at least draw the match as they have a better goal difference