LAHORE, Dec 7: Following the demoralising 4-1 defeat to The Netherlands, Pakistan meet arch-rivals India in a do-or-die clash on Wednesday which sees two top penalty corner specialists pitted against each other.
India coach Gerhard Rach said his team would be trying its best, although he considered Pakistan a better side. "We will be trying our best, but I must say Pakistan are a better side," he told Dawn.
Rach, a German who took over Indian hockey team's charge weeks before Athens Olympics, however, did not agree that a 3-1 win against Germany or Pakistan's loss against the Dutch could play a role in Wednesday's encounter.
The German said although Sandeep Singh, the short corner expert, had trained under German penalty corner specialist Oliver Kunz, before coming to Pakistan, it won't make a big difference.
"We had the services of Kunz in India for penalty corner conversion training. But I think that won't be a big difference. We got three short corners today against Germany, but could convert only one," he said.
While Rach was not satisfied with the short corner conversion, Pakistan too seemed to be lacking in that department despite having world class short corner exponent Sohail Abbas, scoring only once off four opportunities.
Rach became furious when an Indian journalist asked how would he compare the squad that played series against Pakistan and the present one which was to play hosts on Wednesday.
"You people (Indian media) have been writing a lot of things but I must tell you that a coach cannot produce results all of a sudden. I took charge few weeks before Olympics. How I was supposed to produce results in four weeks," he said during a post-match press conference.
India will also be looking to avenge 4-3 third place playoff loss to Pakistan in the last edition. Pakistan captain Waseem Ahmad said significance of the match against India had increased after the loss against the Dutch and it was a must win situation for his team.
"We have to win the game against the Indians at all cost to keep our hopes alive for reaching the final. It is not only the matter of pride, it is also the matter of survival," he said.
"Indians are a young and a fighting side. I guess it will be pretty tough match. No matter what is there performance in the tournament, but when they play Pakistan, they always try their best," the midfielder said.
