India can beat any team, says Belgium hockey coach McLeod

After facing a defeat at the hands of India, Belgium men's hockey team coach Shane Mcleod said that their opponents are going in moving in a good direction and can beat any team in the world.

"India showed today that they can beat any team in the world, we are sitting number No. 1 and regardless of how they did it, they did it. They are going in a good way," Mcleod said at the post-match press conference.

Indian men's hockey team defeated Belgium 2-1 in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2020 at Kalinga Stadium.

Mandeep Singh (2') and Ramandeep Singh (46') scored for India against the World Champions while Gauthier Boccard scored the lone goal for the visitors. With this sensational victory, India consolidated their world ranking from number five to four for the first time since 2003.

Mcleod said that the side created enough opportunities in the game but failed to execute them and hence faced defeat.

"Early in the game which gets quite bit of confidence and then we created chance after chance with penalty corners but there was more desperation than may be thought sometimes into our executions and things, I felt that as if we were chasing the game little bit not that we were poor but just the scoreline created the pressure that affected how to play a little bit," he said

McLeod added that the team won many corners but failed to attack especially in circles.

"We did not execute things very well, attacking circles and we had enough corner to win the game. The energy of the players increased towards the end but a little bit of frustration came in the end as well because we were not able to achieve what we were hoping to achieve," he added.

Goalkeeper Krishan Pathak was adjudged Player of the Match for his brave performance. India will take on Belgium at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium on Sunday, February 9.