| Confident India take on Japan
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Chennai
September 7, 2007
Semi-final
India Vs Japan
Forty six goals in five matches with only two conceded would put most teams into a circle of confidence that would be difficult for any team to penetrate, leave alone Japan, India’s opponents in the second semi-final of the Asia Cup on Saturday. It has been a magnificent run, no doubt about that, but hopefully the team does understand that apart from China and South Korea, the rest were simply cannon-fodder. Victories against China and Korea were commendable; defeating the Asian Games gold and silver medalist in a single tournament is no mean task.
But understanding ground realities is a part of sports management that most Indian teams, not only hockey, have a problem coming to terms with. Somewhere thinking gets clouded when confronted with the sheer number of goals scored. A look at Japan’s captain Yamabori Takahiko and his scoring prowess from penalty corner set-pieces should clear any muddled or over-confident minds.
India’s key to entering the Asia Cup final and defending its crown rests on a pacy start. Japan is not very clean in it’s tackling at the back and tends to panic when confronted with five forwards attacking. Even when India played them in Belgium at the Champions Challenger, they tended to hurry with their clearances, allowing India to snatch the ball away and mount counter-attacks.
Though one would consider it a real advantage if India’s increases it’s potency with penalty corners, it’s the midfield that would ensure victory against Japan.
Prabodh Tirkey, Sardara Singh, Bimal Lakra and Ignace Tirkey have the talent to turn a match inside-out. And they did it quite effectively against South Korea. Ignace, Bimal and Prabodh providing the passes that ensured goals.
A lot of hope centers on the forwards and their ability to convert. Prabhjot, Tushar, Shivender and Rajpal have been in form. Prabhjot suddenly looks dangerous and his new found love with reverse hits has given him an altogether new look.
India have a had a training session on Friday morning and the coach Joaquim Carvalho is confident of his team. “I think they are coming around and we should convert our chances and make it to the final,” he said. “We would have to look a bit more carefully at the Japanese counter-attack and ensure that not too many penalty corners are conceded.”
If the Indian penalty corners off Raghunath work and the forwards create panic and confusion, it would be a Saturday night that the fans will not forget in a hurry.
History is with India; they have never lost to Japan in the Asia Cup and it’s a record they have to maintain if they want to play the final on Sunday.
In the other semi-final, South Korea takes on Malaysia. The Asian Games gold medalist and fourth at the 2006 World Cup, Korea were stunned 2-3 by India in the Pool match. They would want to make amends by winning the their semi-final. Their coach has already said that they would beat Malaysia 3-1. “It is not difficult for us,” said Myung Jun Cho. “They are playing well but we know that we are a better side.”
Archive : Japan enter semis, meet India
Million Dollar Players!
India Enter Semis
Yamabori scores 6
Goal Fest!
Indian hockey’s Jason Bourne?
Relief! India secure opening win
Asia Cup — a peep into the past
| Schedule |
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Final Standings :
1. India
2. S Korea
3. Malaysia
4. Japan
5. China
6. Pakistan
7. Bangladesh
8. Hong Kong
9. Sri Lanka
10. Singapore
11. Thailand
Sunday's Matches  |
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| TEAM A | TEAM B | Playoff | TIME | RESULT | |||
| S Lanka | SPore | 9/10 | 08:00 | 6-0 | |||
| Ban | HKG | 7/8 | 07:00 | 3-1 | |||
| China | Pak | 5/6 | 09:30 | 3-2 | |||
| Malaysia | Japan | 3/4 | 16:00 | 5-3 | |||
| India | S Korea | 1/2 | 18:30 | 7-2 | |||
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Saturday's Matches |
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| TEAM A | v | TEAM B | TIME | RESULT | |||
| Singapore | v | Thailand | 08:00 | 4-0 | |||
| Pak | v | Ban | 07:00 | 10-0 | |||
| China | v | HongKong | 09:30 | 6-1 | |||
| S Korea | v | Malaysia | 17:00 | 2-1 | |||
| India | v | Japan | 19:30 | 4-1 | |||
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SCORE TABLE |
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| POOL A | |||||||
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| Malaysia SF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 4 | 10 | |
| Japan SF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 4 | 9 | |
| Pakistan | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 7 | 7 |
| Hong Kong | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 28 | 3 | |
| Singapore | 4 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 0 | ||
| POOL B | |||||||
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| India SF | 5 | 5 | 46 | 2 | 15 | ||
| S Korea SF | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 8 | 10 |
| China | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 6 | 10 |
| Bangladesh | 5 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 22 | 6 | |
| Sri Lanka | 5 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 46 | 3 | |
| Thailand | 5 | 5 | 1 | 67 | 0 | ||
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 A team should be ready to play anyone. Of course, more |
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