India play Poland as billions pray for win

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Sydney: A Billion people back home will be praying for them and a few million in Australia will join them, when India line up to play Poland in their last league match of the hockey competition.

It will be the very last match of the first stage of the competition and it will decide the Indian hockey team's fate. There is no margin for error, nor room for complacency.

India must win their last league match against Poland if they are to get into the Olympic hockey for the first time in 20 years with their heads held high.

The discerning will notice there is one more way out, which is India can still get away with a draw against Poland, provided Australia beat Korea by two or more goals.

Since India's match is after the Australia-Korea match, India will know exactly what they need to do when they meet Poland.

The way the Indians had started off this tournament, breaking that 20-year-old jinx had seemed a mere formality. But then as many times in the past, the Indian performance dropped dramatically in the third game and a loss to South Korea queered the pitch.

India did pick up the pieces and scraped together for a win against Spain to keep their hopes alive, but the situation as it stands a day before the last set of league matches is must win their final game against Poland.

India have seven points from four games, while Australia and Korea have eight each and they clash against each other on Tuesday afternoon.

One of the biggest advantages for India is that Poland have nothing at stake, so maybe they will slacken. But on the other hand, if the Poles play like the way they did against either Spain, who they whipped 4-1 or against Argentina, against whom they had a big 5-5, India could be in trouble.

Regardless of what they do in their last match, Poland cannot qualify any longer. Nor can Argentina or Spain, both of whom have finished their league engagements.

Indian coach Vasudevan Baskaran sounded confident. "Our playersare very fit. They will play better after two days rest - the time since the 3-2 win over Spain - and will go out for a win," he said.

He added, "We have been playing well at these Olympics. But for one game, the tournament has been fairly good, so I am confident we will make it to thesemis."

In the first two matches against Argentina and Australia, the Indian forward line functioned like a well-oiled machine. They flowed smoothly, and wereably supported by the midfield and the defence was solid. New goal-keeper, Jude Menezes has justified his selection ahead of the veteran Ashish Ballal, who kept the goal at the 1998 Asian Games, when India won the gold medal.

For India, one problem, however has been that Dhanraj Pillay has been bottled up by most oppositions. "I know I was marked by two people in the match against Korea," Pillay, who has not been able to show his incredible ball playing skills so far, said.

A star in his own right, Pillay has, however, said he doesn't care if he does not score, as long as the team wins. "I have a lot of responsibility and I want to help the team," the senior most player of the team said .

The Indian team is convinced it can make it . Pillay cannot even see a different possibility and this positive approach is so refreshing in the Indian team.

They have put behind that one bad performance against Korea. "It's over. It's gone," Baskaran said and Pillay agreed.

India Abroad News Service