Hockey News: World Cup 2023 Draw out, India in Group D with Spain, Chief Coach Graham Reid comments

 In an interview, Reid said that India has played against Wales and England in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, and the difficulty levels of the games were very high. With Spain also put in the same mix, the difficulty will only increase as Spain’s team has improved significantly in the last 12 months. 

Chief coach Reid said, “The pools in the FIH Hockey World Cup and the Olympics are always difficult. Every team is there to win. We just played England and Wales in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the games were of the highest quality. To top that off with Spain who has been improving in the last 12 months will make the first-round games very difficult. As is the case with the finals qualification system now in place you also have to keep one eye on the cross-over pool and it certainly doesn’t get any easier there.”

Before India plays against Spain in the FIH World Cup 2023, India will first face them during the FIH Pro League 2022-23. When asked if this would help India be prepared to fight them during the world cup, Reid wasn’t very sure. He said, “It always swings and roundabouts when you play games against future opponents in the big tournaments. Do you try strategies that you may want to use in the FIH Hockey World Cup, or do you show nothing and miss that opportunity? They can learn as much about you as you can learn about them.”

After commenting on the difficulty level of the upcoming tournament, Reid was also asked about preparing the Indian men’s hockey team for the forthcoming World Cup. With India crashing out of the 2018 World Cup at the quarter-final stage, Reid was asked if the team is better prepared now.

In response, Reid said, “As I said before, England are a world-class team and they are playing a very good brand of hockey at the moment. But so are we and the important part about the World Cup is that we have to keep our minds in the moment and focus on each aspect of the game. It is a very different team than it was four years ago, with different experiences and some different personnel. We are looking forward to the World Cup and playing in front of our home crowd.”