Olympian Darryl D'Souza feels some Indian players were running scared against Spain

That's what Olympian Darryl D'souza felt about some of the Indian players as he watched Spain run over the hosts

That's what Olympian Darryl D'souza felt about some of the Indian players as he watched Spain run over the hosts

Singing the national anthem along with the crowd of about 15,000-odd before the India-Spain match was one of the most poignant moments of my life. Not even in my playing days have I ever played in front of such a crowd.

But thereafter I was equally disappointed at what was dished out by the Indian team.

Before we knew it, we were two goals down. Despite that, the passionate crowd kept up the tempo and kept yelling their lungs out in support of the team. I thought that was amazing. Sadly, the team didn't respond.

Sandeep Singh, on whom rests India's drag flick hopes, was very disappointing. He kept flicking the ball in the goalkeeper's midriff area.

On the other hand, Spanish drag-flicker Pau Quemada beat the India goalkeeper easily with a flick to the top right corner of the net. Had Sandeep done that, probably India would have pulled one or two more goals back, which would have given them a psychological boost.

Sandeep's missed opportunities aside though, there were some unbelievable and unpardonable things done by some of our players. Though I would not like to take names, there were about five or six players who did not want to receive the ball during the game. They were happy to stay away from the action. This is shameful. On one occasion, we stopped one of the penalty corners inside the circle. This again, is an inexcusable error given this is the World Cup -- the highest stage.

I think a defeat against Spain is no surprise because after all, they are the No 3 side in the world and we are a lowly No 12. But the manner in which we were defeated was sad. The scoreline of 5-2 could so easily have been 5-3 or 5-4.

And that's what will hurt for a long time. The level of hockey we play is totally incomparable to that of teams like Germany, Australia, Spain, etc. They are on a different level altogether and it will be some time before we even get close to them.

To be honest I don't think we stand a chance against England either. They are the European champions after all. I think if we manage to finish in the top eight here, it will be good enough.

As told to Ashwin Ferro

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