Asia Cup 2025: Speaking to India Today, men's hockey team coach, Craig Fulton, responded to Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey's reassuring words about his future in the job. India are looking to win the Asia Cup In Rajgir to secure a World Cup berth.
00:00So coach, last time when I was talking to you, you said that you were happy with the result, not the performance. What about today?
00:07Yeah, I thought three quarters of the game was really good. I thought the fourth quarter wasn't our best, but the first half was really good.
00:16We pressed well, pretty we couldn't score a few more goals, but yeah, it was nice.
00:20It was nice to get on the front foot and get some goals up earlier, but then we let it slip a little bit.
00:27But yeah, it's going to come when we really connect and connect in the final third, and I think we can score a few more goals. That'll be the difference.
00:38So was that a real plan of you to defend from the front? Because we saw that your forwards were absolutely energetic.
00:45They were defending right from the front, putting pressure on Japan, even in midfield, everywhere.
00:50If you look at it throughout, it was a complete, complete defensive performance, but not in a bad way.
00:56Yeah, I thought we were on the front foot, that's what I mean. We were proactive in pressing and trying to dictate how and where they played, and I think we did a good job of that.
01:05But you need to reward yourself, and we didn't do that today.
01:09So you're saying that the goals will come, and because mostly now five goals from Harmanpreet, one from Mandiv, and one from Jugraj at the moment.
01:20So we saw a lot of effort.
01:23Some of the strikers to chip in with the chances that we had, so that's where we're going to next.
01:28Also, my last question to you, you know, there was a lot of chatter about you, about your position, after the Hockey Pro League did not go your way.
01:39But recently we had a chat with Dilip Turki, sir, and he said that there is no pressure being put on Mr. Fulton.
01:46We have full faith in him, and he is going to turn around and going into the World Cup.
01:49So hearing that, what does it make you feel?
01:53No, we're here to do a job. The big picture is to try and stand and win the World Cup.
01:58You know, we'd love to. We'd love to win an Olympic gold or a World Cup.
02:01But we're here now, and we haven't qualified for anything, so we just go one game at a time, and that's always been the plan.
02:08And your expectations for the Kasachistan game?
02:11Yeah, we will be on the front foot, but we need to just reassess from this, recover, do a good job on that.
02:16The nice thing is we play the late game, so we'll be refreshed, ready to go.
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