Watching the match between India and Great Britain - one could see that the team had not got over the loss of not making the semis. There was lack of purpose and motivation was at its lowest ebb. Well this was my fear having faced the same scenario at Atlanta - that is why I am so adamant on the mental aspect. Great Britain for that matter of fact entered this match under tremendous pressure. Britain get's its funding from National lottery which is directly linked to the team's performance, so if they had not maintained a top six finish their future funding would have been questionable.At the beginning of the tournament in Pool A Britain lost 4-2 to Holland, they got a thrashing from Pakistan 8-1, and things looked real bleak. Then came the draws with Malaysia and Canada before their best match, completely upsetting the predictions and beating Germany 2-1. This ensured them a place for the 5-8 placing matches. A word of praise to the team as they came back with vengeance to redeem themselves. This for me, is mental strength - the bull dog spirit. With the appointment of Australian coach Barry Dancer as National coach - British hockey has now imbibed some of the Aussie aggressive play into their system.Although the game was evenly poised, it must be said that the Great Britian team's body language and determination to win was more apparent. In attack India continued to carry the ball and lose it time and again in the opposite 25, whilst in defence we made the same mistakes of ball watching, not closing down and most importantly not having any cover defence. They played to their strengths - quick first time passes and running off the ball (give and go), using width and rotating play by quick switching, and playing on the break.THE GOALS: 10th minute. We went into the lead from a Dilip Tirkey direct penalty corner that deflected off goalkeeper Simon Mason's outstretched stick when he was in the logged position.16th minute. Their equaliser came from again good switching in our 25, with an equally good release behind our defence. The ball was played from the left by Craig Farnham to Danny Hall on top of the circle where he was left unmarked. Hall played the return ball back to his left for Craig who had run into the gap stealing behind Saini, and without wasting any time took a hard flick to the left of goalkeeper Jude who partially parried the ball but which went into the top left hand corner. 46th minute. The winner. We gave them a penalty corner and Culam Giles strode up and fired true to the boards past a helpless Jude, who again put up another good show.Worse was to come - Dhillon was being harried whilst running with the ball and in frustration he retaliated by hitting the David Hacker. The result of which was a yellow card and again we were down to 10 men. After the match there were scenes that could have really got out of hand as our players were seen arguing with the match officials. We lost and no mater what the umpire is not going to change his decision there is no point in antagonising the man and make a spectacle of yourself. It is far better to maintain decorum by showing dignity in defeat; this is the true quality of a sportsperson and what we term as sportsman spirit. We lost our equilibrium and focus while they showed us how to play modern hockey when you are a goal up - as they controlled the pace and held possession to tactically out manouevre us, thereby eliminating us from the Champions Trophy. We now have to play Argentina (who lost 6-2 to Germany after squandering a Jorge Lombi's 2-0 lead) for the 7-8 places and what a tough match itwill be for us.Jansen spoils Aussie party: In a match that did not rise to great heights - the Australians who till now had not lost a game in the pool matches, will be wondering what they need to do to win that elusive gold Olympic medal. Not even the vociferous partisan crowd could spur their team to get past Ronald Jansen in the Dutch goal, who showed why he is considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world.Seventy minutes of regulation time and 15 minutes of extra time could not produce a single goal, so the tie-breaker was introduced. It was here that Jansen brought off probably the most important save of his illustrious career - when he turned round the corner a Brent Livermore flick. The Dutch scored all their five goals with Marten Eikleboom a tad lucky to see his stroke, although smothered by Damon Dellitti, managing to cross the line. Final score 5-4.There is not much to write about from a tactical point of view as the match was evenly fought but was really devoid of any thrills, just confined to the midfield with a lot of running by both teams. As far as I am concerned both were rather pensive playing a watchful game. Were the Australian team tense thinking about how close they were to an Olympic final and probably the gold - that they have never won? One can go on speculating, but the real fact is that they did not perform as they had in their previous matches. The Dutch in this tournament have not been as consistent as they normally are - mauling the opposition. The draw with Malaysia and the two nil loss to Pakistan probably being their worst performances. They too looked skeptical and definitely lacked the fluidity that is seen in past Dutch teams.Although the chances were far and few between, It would be fair to say that the Aussies had the better opportunities to score but found Jansen hard to beat. The saves against a Troy Elder and Stephen Davies were probably what cost Australia the match.Ironically the Dutch were really out of the semis after they lost to Pakistan until Great Britain did them the biggest favour by beating the Germans 2-1. It was just the reprieve they wanted as they squeezed into the semis on better Goals For basis. With this victory the Dutch are really riding their luck as they go in quest of retaining the Olympic gold medal.
