 London: Deeply hurt by the Indian hockey team`s display so far in the Olympic Games, national Coach Michael Nobbs termed the side`s performance till date as `unacceptable`.
Surprised at the sudden slump in form of the players, who were doing well only three weeks back during their European tour, Nobbs admitted that something has gone wrong?
"Our performance to date is not acceptable," said Nobbs.
"Where do we go from here? I, of course, am completely disappointed as we showed so much promise during the past 12 months. Preparations and team building were going according to schedule and our results had showed we were improving. What is going wrong?" the coach asked.
Nobbs said that the Indians failed to improve on their grey areas.
"The same things that we all knew...Lack of finishing in front of goals and leaking easy defensive goals have proved to be costly. May be we were hoping it would be all alright on the night. Well, this is the Olympic Games and this is where as an athlete you get the chance to show that you deserve to be here and establish yourself as an Olympian."
"We can all see that it is not all right and the things we have been concerned with have been our downfall. Our forwards have had ample opportunity to score with 30-40 penetrations into the opposition circle per game. Many shots going begging across the front of goals and our once feared penalty corner battery reduced to a mere whimper with shots barely making the goal line," explained Nobbs.
Stating that India would try to salvage some pride in their last game against Belgium tomorrow, Nobbs said, "We should try and salvage something. This is the last chance for a number of players to stand up and be counted and produce the performances we all hoped they would.
"It is important for our players not to lose faith in them and as a team because this is a tough time for the side. However, it is certainly not the end of the road.
"The next game will be against Belgium and they are no walkovers and are in a similar position as ourselves. They are a physically tough side with some skillful players and they play with pride of their nation so they will be a tough team to crack," said Nobbs.
PTI
First Published: Monday, August 6, 2012, 16:29
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