JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- National Juniors head coach I. Vikneswaran says his men “seemed clueless on what to do” after going 2-0 up against India before capitulating 4-2 for their third straight defeat in the 2024 Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJC) at the Johor Hockey Stadium in Taman Daya here last night.
While praising his men for playing to instructions to take a 2-0 lead, the Young Tigers looked bereft of ideas after that and this allowed India, under coach PR Sreejesh, to slam four goals past them to stay at the top of the six-team standings with nine points.
“I must admit the boys had a really bad game against Japan (losing 4-1)… we accept the defeat even though it’s a really tough pill to swallow.
“We wanted to ensure that doesn’t happen again and that’s why the boys stuck to the game plan (against India). The only thing is that after we had scored the two goals, then suddenly (it was like) ‘oops… what do we do now?’… we then let India back into the game by conceding two goals.
“But I have to admit the boys played according to plan... they can only get better. We’re not afraid of any of these teams, it’s just that we need need to do the right things... that’s the reality,” he told a post-match media conference after the match against India.
Commenting on today’s match against Great Britain, he stressed that his men are ready for the task despite having lost three matches on the trot.
-- BERNAMA
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