The contrasting fortunes of India and Germany in their recent hockey friendly match highlighted the vast differences in their training structures and levels of experience. While India’s coach, Craig Fulton, expressed disappointment with his team’s performance, Germany’s coach, Andre Henning, couldn’t have been happier with his team’s dominant victory.
The disparity in preparation was evident from the outset. India, lacking a centralized training program, had only one session together prior to the match, while Germany, with its well-structured domestic league and Under-21 program, boasted a highly experienced and cohesive team. The result was a 2-0 win for Germany, a testament to their superior training and cohesion.
“We are not in a centralized programme so we didn’t have a single training session since the Olympics. We had our first session yesterday and tried to connect a little, get adjusted to each other,” Fulton explained. “Germany is getting much colder and there is the time difference but the guys managed extremely well and it was a typical German performance — good efficiency, high discipline.”
Henning, clearly pleased with his team’s performance, attributed the win to the experience gained from the German league and Under-21 programs. “Some of the players have never played together before so it’s tough because you have to get used to a common tactic, specially with just two meetings and a training session to get there. I was hoping for such a performance but I am a little surprised how well that worked, to be honest,” he admitted. “But there is no denying that it is an experienced team because they have the experience from the German league and the Under-21.”
Fulton, while accepting the defeat, highlighted the lack of fluidity and fire in his team’s attack. “No excuses. We are at the end of a long season but they just flew in and we are at home. We missed a few connections upfront and were not too fluid, there was not much fire in the attack, we are normally a lot more threatening. I don’t like losing but it’s not the Olympics today and we are in a different phase,” Fulton admitted.
He expressed hope that the team would learn from the experience and improve for the next game. “It is always difficult when you are chasing the game, you need to keep the ball but also need to dominate the attack, we did that but with five min to go, we need to do that in the 1st half. I think we still created enough in the 2nd quarter but didn’t finish well enough, we weren’t on the mark today. It’s just one of those things and we start again tomorrow.”
The match serves as a stark reminder of the gap between India and Germany in terms of preparation and experience. It highlights the need for India to invest in a more robust and centralized training program to compete effectively at the international level.
