World Cup: Fulton feels underdog tag sits perfectly on India

It’s been more than half a century that the Indian men’s hockey team has been anywhere near the World Cup podium. As Craig Fulton’s boys enter the final stretch of preparations for yet another shot at the medal, the coach is not only aware of the challenge ahead but also comfortable with the ‘underdog’ tag for his team.

“The ideal goal, of course, is to win. The realistic goal is we’ve been given a 5% chance of winning because we are ranked eighth. It’s perfectly set up for a World Cup. We go into it as underdogs, to be honest, and that’s a good place for us to be.

“The big block now is strength and conditioning because you need a certain amount of strength to get through seven games if you go all the way in the World Cup. And then we have a similar number of games in the Asian Games, so it’s 100% all-in, there are no easy games,” Fulton told The Hindu on Friday.

There will also be the Asian Games in two months with an Olympic ticket at stake. However, Fulton insisted the team wasn’t looking that far ahead, not even to the knockout stages of the World Cup yet. “The first goal is to get out of the pool in the top two, preferably in the number one position. We’re looking at all our tactical plans, all our opposition, our offensive, long corner, penalty corner type defence. We’re really trying to do a good job on what we’re going to be coming up against. And the guys are super motivated because everyone’s in a good place,” he said.

India’s first Pool D game will be against Wales on August 15, followed by England on 17th and Pakistan on 19th with the top two advancing to the quarterfinals. “We’re just looking at Wales as our number one game. They will be difficult opponents because they are the true underdogs in our pool, they have nothing to lose. There are Welsh players in the GB (Great Britain) programme so a lot of the style of play is very similar, strong, hard-running.

“England have a very experienced team and have got results against everyone. They had a fantastic Pro League. It’s nice to have played them twice before we play them in the pool. And Pakistan are Pakistan. They can score goals from nothing; at the same time, they can have a bad patch and you can score two-three goals as well. So, it’s an interesting pool. It’s up to us now to perform and get the results,” Fulton said.

The Indian squad will leave on July 31 for a team building and training camp in Switzerland with renowned mental-conditioning coach Paddy Upton. It will then have a training camp in Eindhoven and go into Amsterdam on August 8 and play warm-up games against Japan and Argentina.

“Everything we’re doing is building for one tournament with a second tournament in mind. It’s like having a goal, the World Cup, but we also have a goal through a goal, the Asian Games. All our training is geared around being physically, mentally and tactically sharp enough to cover both tournaments,” Fulton explained.

Asked about the pressure of expectations, Fulton admitted the title dream was alive but it was equally important to focus on the immediate task. “I think legacy always plays a part but this team wants to write its own piece of Indian history at the tournament. To perform and stand on the podium would be fantastic; to win it would be amazing. But the guys aren’t jumping too far ahead. It’s easy to dream and it is important to do so. But we’ve got to keep doing the hard work. We’ve got the last phase to go and the guys are excited about the opportunity”.