India coach Micheal Nobbs said “silly errors” in the second half of the match cost his side full three points against Japan at the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament here on Saturday.
After the impressive 5-0 win over China on Friday, India conceded a last-minute goal to draw 1-1 with Japan in its second match of the tournament today.
“They (Japan) were playing well in the second half. But we made some silly errors in the end and we paid for it,” a visibly disappointed Nobbs said after the match.
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The Australian also rued Indian players' poor fitness levels, saying the Japanese were, by far, the fitter side on the ground.
“We have to be fit to be able to play against much stronger sides,” he said.
“It's not that we didn't play well. We could have won the match easily if those chances had gone in. But I don't want to delve on lost chances. In the last few minutes, Japan pressed hard and fitness let us down,” Nobbs added.
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Full back Rupinder Pal Singh was shown the yellow card around the 50th minute mark, which reduced India to 10 men and Nobbs said it was a turning point in the match.
“We sort of lost our composure there and Japan turned on the pressure. Those are the things we need to learn,” he insisted.
Against Japan, India also wasted their first two penalty corners as Ravi Pal failed to stop the push and it proved expensive in the end.
“I don't think the surface was bumpy. This is inexperience. You need to stop the ball. The players should understand that winning is important,” Nobbs said.
The coach believes the players need more experience and slowly a pattern would form in the way the team is playing.
“I believe you learn more when you lose. Of course, winning is great and you also learn from it. But, for this team, losing is another form of learning.”
Nobbs was full of praise for Gurbaz Singh. “It was a world class display by him and I hope he keeps it up against the other teams in the fray,” Nobbs said.