What would be the management style of a German or Belgium corporate organization in a desperate situation (unlike India or England)? They will obviously still stick to the work plan and processes. That is exactly what Belgium and German hockey teams did in this game as well. They have good skills and excellent fitness (almost as good as those of Indian players). But most importantly, they have a plan that they stick to. And they achieve incredible efficiency of converting opportunities inside the penalty circle. This was not scintillating hockey (from my perspective). But if the objective of playing hockey is to win a game, both teams were highly focused and played very well. In the second game, Korea beat Japan 2-1 in another close match up.
I digress, but I have an important discussion point here. I am a passionate fan of the Univ Michigan (my alma mater) in American College Football. Michigan reached the final four under the leadership of quarterback J J McCarthy. This 19-year boy does mediation for five min right on the field before the game. It helps him to forget past mistakes (including those within the game) and future anxieties. Germany and Belgium have this “cool head” approach inside the penalty circle. It intrigues me as to what makes players become “cool headed” for that instant of 0.1 sec and help them to achieve higher efficiency in converting opportunities to goals? I have no idea.
Few other quick observations:
- After two rounds of league matches, three of the four pools have the top two teams tied at 4 points.
- I have another crazy friend, Mudit, who joined me (from my hostel in IIT) to watch all the games in the Kalinga Stadium. Cross checking some observations with him about the action on the field is so much fun!
- Normally, the right and left top corners of the goal posts are the sweet spots for scoring goals in penalty corners. Mudit observed that most penalty corners are staying low on the ground throughout the tournament. Any strategy? Who knows?
- Bad news for India? Hardik, the star player of India, is injured and may be out of the tournament.
– Good news for India, the next game is with Wales (not known to be a strong team).
ps: Photo credit to the Internal Hockey Federation
