India chief coach Graham Reid said missing the opportunities did not help the home team in its third place match against France in the men’s hockey Junior World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday.
Reid said the last edition’s champion finished outside the medal bracket due to its inability to score enough goals.
“It's disappointing. We got enough opportunities to win. We could not put the ball into the goal. There are a lot of positives to come out. There were some players who stood up,” said Reid after the match.
The Australian pointed out the areas of improvement. “Finishing [is one area]. Defence again let us down a little bit. Both ends of the pitch where you win and lose matches and that's probably where we need to be looking at.
“It was a tough game today. If we had come out and put a couple [of goals], then it could have been a different match. We had momentum in the start. We did not convert that into scoreboard pressure. If you don’t do that, then it keeps the other team interested. They work their way back into the match,” said Reid.
India captain Vivek Sagar Prasad also blamed the defeat on the missed chances. “We got a lot of chances. Had we scored, then our confidence level would have been high. We got that pressure as they were in the lead,” said Vivek.
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