"I think we have very good chances against Great Britain": Viren Rasquinha

Former India captain Viren Rasquinha lauded the Indian team for playing to their potential against Australia but also warned them of the stiff challenge in the knockout stageRasquinha believes that the Harmanpreet Singhled side will face a tough battle against Great Britain in their quarterfinal clash on SundayIndia finished second in Pool B with 10 points in five matches In their last match against Australia the Indian team scripted history with a 32 win their first victory over the Kookaburras since the 1972 Olympics Rasquinha lauded the Indian team for playing to their potential against Australia but also warned them of the stiff challenge in the knockout stageFairly good drawldquoI think we have very good chances against Great Britain Itrsquos a fairly good draw for us We played very well to finish second in Pool B and the last two matches against Belgium and Australia If you dispassionately keep the results aside they played very good hockey Obviously the result against Australia is fantastic because Irsquove been there several times and I know how difficult is it to win against Australia in a major event where they come so preparedrdquo Rasquinha told IANS on SaturdayAlso ReadParis Olympics 2024 My coaching days end here ChiragSatwiks coach Mathias Boe announces retirementViren RasquinhaCraig Fultonrsquos India had lost both their Pro League encounters against Great Britain in June before the Olympics The veteran player cautioned India of their opponentrsquos potential and advised them to play their top game ldquoItrsquos been a good performance but we also have to know that wersquove to forget this result The knockout phase is a new game altogether and we got to be really on top of our game Holland Netherlands Germany Great Britain and Spain the four teams that come from the other pool are equally strong Anyone is capable of beating anyone in the world hockey In the Pro League they India have not had the best of results against Great Britain so itrsquos going to be toughrdquo added the Olympics expert on JioCinema and Sports18The 43yearold former midfielder said that India will have to replicate their aggressive hockey against Great Britain to secure the semifinal spotAggressive playldquoThe good thing in the match against Australia is that we played to our strength This is the kind of hockey that India excel at when playing at a high tempo playing as direct as possible being very aggressive on the counterattacks and when you lose ball possession every single player has to fight hard to come back into the defense to make it difficult for the opposition I think the work rate of the entire team was phenomenal against Australia Wersquoll need to do this again as Great Britain also play at a very very high tempo This is something we need to make surerdquo Rasquinha concludedGreat Britain has qualified as the thirdplaced team in Pool A finishing behind Germany and the NetherlandsAnother reason for Rasquinha listing this match as tough for India is the superior details enjoyed by the opponents against India In 23 matches played so far Great Britain hold a 139 advantage They are ahead in the last five matches too having won three and lost twoDid you knowLike in Tokyo Olympics the quarterfinal lineup of menrsquos hockey at Paris is coincidentally the samemdashIndia v Great Britain Belgium v Spain The Netherlands v Australia and Germany v ArgentinaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever