13 May,2009 08:45 AM IST | | Ashwin Ferro
2007 Asia Cup-winning coach Joaquim Carvalho says he's not surprised at India's premature ouster from the 2009 edition of the tournament
JOAQUIM Carvalho may have been the man at the helm when India failed to qualify for the Olympics last year for the first time in 80 years. But if there is one feather in his hat during his brief stint as Indian hockey coach, it has to be the 2007 Asia Cup title victory in Chennai.
So, when he says that he had foreseen India's failure in the 2009 Asia Cup yesterday, he must be believed. "In modern hockey, fitness is of prime importance and if you look at the manner in which we have failed in this tournament, all fingers point to a lack of fitness which has a lot to do with the age of certain players," the Olympian told MiD DAY after China came back from 0-2 down to draw 2-2 and eliminate India from the semi-final race of the ongoing Asia Cup in Kuantan, Malaysia.
Carvalho's point is emphasised by the fact that India conceded a couple of late goals in the tournament that cost them dearly. In their 3-2 defeat to Pakistan on Sunday, Pakistan's Hasneem Khan scored the equaliser (1-1) two minutes from half-time. And then in the second half, Pakistan scored the winner in the 55th minute through drag-flicker Sohail Abbas. Yesterday too, India led with a comfortable 2-0 score line going in to half-time. However, the Chinese came up with their goals in the 45th and 60th minutes.
Youth policy
Carvalho had maintained a youth policy when the KPS Gill-led Indian Hockey Federation had handed him the reins. And his efforts bore fruit, given the manner in which India won the 2007 Asia Cup. "We did not lose a single match in that tournament beating South Korea twice and also getting the better of China en route.
People say playing in a foreign country adds pressure, but I can assure you that playing in front of a packed house at home, as my boys did then, was equally pressurising," said Carvalho, who had also coached India to a third place finish in the Azlan Shah and Champions Challenge tournament in Belgium.
So, what went wrong in Malaysia this time? "There is no place for older players, so I had rested some of the 'senior' players at the cost of attracting a lot of criticism from different quarters. Today however, things have been reversed," he said.
Though he refused to take any names, the fact is that Arjun Halappa, Vikram Pillay and Sandeep Singh were some of the players who did not fit into Carvalho's scheme of things back then. Today however, they are prominent members of the starting line-up. "Clearly, we have not learnt from our mistakes. We lost to China in Doha, where all this mess began, and now we have lost to them again. They say history repeats itself, and I'm not surprised it has," he signed off.
