Junior Hockey WC: India didn't convert the momentum into goals, says coach Reid
Dec 05, 2021
Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], December 5 : Indian men's hockey team coach Graham Reid feels the hosts failed to convert their chances in the FIH Junior World Cup match in Bhubaneshwar on Sunday.
France defeated defending champions India 3-1 in the third-place match of the showpiece event on Sunday.
For France, Timothee Clement was the star of the evening, as their captain scored his fourth hat-trick of the tournament. He ended the Junior World Cup with 14 goals against his name. Sudeep was the lone goalscorer in the match for India.
"Disappointing, to be honest. We had enough opportunities to win the match but we couldn't put the ball on the goals. Unfortunately, that's the game of whatever you wanna call it," Reid said after the match
"There are also a lot of positives to come out, some players who stood up today. The defence let us down a little bit. It was a tough game today as I said of we would have put some scoreboard pressure on them, the result might have been different.
"You know we had the momentum at the start but we didn't convert that into scoreboard pressure. And if you don't do that it keeps the other team in, and they worked their way back in the game," he added.
This was India's second loss to France in the tournament as the two teams opened their campaign against each other in the showpiece on November 24 in a hard-fought match that France won 5-4.
