We have to be the best in the world: Nobbs

Indian men’s hockey coach Michael Nobbs said Friday that the eight-time Olympic champions strive to be the best every time they take the field.

Nobbs said the Indian team always works hard to be on top of its opponents physically and psychologically.

“It is hard to be your best everytime you are in the field and we want to be at the top of every team we play both physically and psychologically. We want to be the best team in the world,” Nobbs told reporters after India beat Poland 4-2 and set up a final clash with France in the 2012 London Olympics qualifiers.

The Australian had words of praise for Polish goalkeeper Marlusz Chyla.

“The Polish goalkeeper is probably the best in the world and he was brilliant today. We were inside their circle 26 times compared to that they penetrated us four times. Our finishing was better than yesterday, I mean we were in a better position to score than yesterday,” he said.

Asked if India was too dependent on star dragflicker Sandeep Singh, Nobbs said: “I don’t think we are too dependent on Sandeep for penalty corners. You have to score from penalty corners as well as field goals, if you don’t do that you don’t win tournaments. I am happy with Rughunath and Rupinder Singh as well.”

Nobbs said trapping was a problem for the team.

“We missed trapping a couple of times but we prepare as well as possible and we will look to do that before the finals,” he said.

Nobbs was happy to see Indians busy in the field.

“I am happy with the movement of ball around the field, this is exactly what we were looking for, we scored in the last moment but we were relentless throughout the match. I am not too happy with the defensive corners and we will practice that area of the game tomorrow,” he added.

Nobbs said the final against France would be tough. India had beaten France 6-2 in the group match.

“I didn’t see it (France match against Canada). It was too tense, isn’t it? Well, we will analyse the video of the match tonight. It is not going to be easy in the finals against them. Probably, it would be much tighter than what we played in the last time. It is a grand finale and I am sure it would be pretty tight,” he said.