Asian Junior champions India’s captain Uttam Singh has thrown a challenge to Germany as the two former champions go head-to-head in the semi-finals of the 13th Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow.
Uttam scored the winning goal in India’s 4-3 victory over the Netherlands in Tuesday’s quarterfinals, which catapulted the 2001 and 2016 champions straight into a showdown with six-time champions Germany.
“We must take India to the final,” said Uttam at a post-match press conference after their 4-3 win over the Dutch. “We have to take revenge for the defeats against Germany dating back to the Four-Nation Men’s Invitational tournament in Dusseldorf, Germany, and at the 11th Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia in November,” said the 21-year-old.
“This is the best chance for us to avenge our earlier defeats and restore India’s pride and honour. We have been playing well as a team here. There is no looking back now, and we are close to realising our hopes of another final,” he added.
In Dusseldorf, the Germans defeated India 6-1 in the final and showed their pedigree by dismantling India’s strength with a 6-3 victory in the semifinals to set up a showdown with Australia in the final.
India’s head coach, C.R. Kumar, said: “We respect Germany’s reputation as a side that is to be recognised for their strength and performance in previous matches. We saw how they played and dismantled defending champions Argentina in the quarterfinals. It will not be easy to break down their defence, and we will have to work hard to do it.”
Meanwhile, Germany’s coach Rein van Eijk acknowledged India’s all-round strength but credited his team for the outstanding win against defending champions Argentina.
“It was a perfectly executed win. We have a very big job against India in the semifinals and we will go into the game high on confidence. We have played India before and know what to expect. The most interesting thing is that our momentum is increasing as we move into the most crucial phase of the JWC,” said van Eijk.
“At the moment, we ran a lot in the quarterfinals match, and the players need to take good rest. There are no serious injuries, just minor bruises here and there. We will plan our structure against India one day before the match,” he said.
Team captain Matto Poljaric echoed, “We welcome India into the semifinals. It is going to be a classic match. We had a good experience playing India and they are a very talented side. We cannot allow our concentration to slip away for a moment against India. It will be fatal for us.”
The Spain and France showdown in the second semifinals is expected to go down to the wire. The Europeans are well accustomed to each other’s brand of the game.
Oriol Torras Puig, Spain’s coach, said: “France has a strong history of playing great hockey, and they showed it here in the JWC. There is no doubt we will come under a lot of pressure from the time of the first buzzer. It is always good to play against top teams, and France has all those characteristics.
“It is the same with us. My players are all excited to face France. We played a great game against Pakistan. The way the team came back was amazing. The last quarter was full of tension.
“Against France, we must take our chances early and build a lead. If we are chasing the score, it puts us under a lot of pressure. This situation happened against Pakistan. But I am very happy with my players. They worked hard to get into the semifinals.
Andreas Rafi, the Spanish team captain, added: “All I have asked from the players against Pakistan was to stay calm. We did that perfectly, and now I want the same as we take on France. There is no reason to be nervous. We have 10 players who played at the 2021 JWC in India, and five of them also played for the senior team in the World Cup.
“Overall, I believe we are an all-around team capable of defeating France in the semi-finals. Experience is on our side. We showed in all our matches so far.”
French coach Matthias Dierckens said they have a side capable of diffusing the Spaniards and moving forward towards the final.
“I believe we are a strong team, and all we need to do is devise a plan to bring down Spain. We have always instilled a winning mentality. France is a good team, but it’s not that they cannot be beaten. There is no doubt they have a game plan against us. I think in the first quarter, we need to score as many goals as possible.”