<p>“After the defeat against Australia, I said that the Aussies played much better than us. But today, we didn’t play badly at all. We are almost on the same level as Spain. The difference was their big-match experience,” said the Spaniard.<br /><br />“In the number of chances and in the way of playing, we were very equal. The scoreline does not actually reflect what happened on the pitch.”<br /><br />“It is the lack of big-match experience that hit our team today. Only five of our players have such experience and even they are getting used to the new system of play. So it will take time and more matches for them to come up to the top level. We cannot expect miracles in just six months,” he said.<br /><br />Brasa admitted that the defence had to improve. “These are the best players we have. We have to work more and look for other weapons. The most important thing is the experience. With just ten seconds to go for half-time, we left Pol Amat, World Player of the Year in 2008, totally unmarked. It is a mistake that happens only at the junior level,” said Brasa. India could convert only one out of their six penalty corners. Brasa said the team had faith in Sandeep Singh’s abilities as he had beaten the same goalkeeper many a time during India’s tour of Europe last year. “But today, the goalkeeper was luckier than Sandeep,” he said.<br /><br />Brasa had refrained from making comments on the umpiring after the match against Australia. But he revealed on Thursday that he had complained to the authorities and the umpires’ manager had agreed that India had been wronged many a time.<br /><br />“Australia’s second goal came off a penalty corner. It shouldn’t have been awarded. India were denied two legitimate penalty corners. All these were confirmed by the umpires’ manager,” Brasa said.</p>.<p>Today’s action </p>.<p>Friday’s matches, all Pool A: <br /><br />* Korea vs New Zealand (4.35 pm).<br />* Netherlands vs Canada (6.35 pm).<br />* Germany vs Argentina (8.35 pm).<br /><br />Matches live on TEN Sports </p>
<p>“After the defeat against Australia, I said that the Aussies played much better than us. But today, we didn’t play badly at all. We are almost on the same level as Spain. The difference was their big-match experience,” said the Spaniard.<br /><br />“In the number of chances and in the way of playing, we were very equal. The scoreline does not actually reflect what happened on the pitch.”<br /><br />“It is the lack of big-match experience that hit our team today. Only five of our players have such experience and even they are getting used to the new system of play. So it will take time and more matches for them to come up to the top level. We cannot expect miracles in just six months,” he said.<br /><br />Brasa admitted that the defence had to improve. “These are the best players we have. We have to work more and look for other weapons. The most important thing is the experience. With just ten seconds to go for half-time, we left Pol Amat, World Player of the Year in 2008, totally unmarked. It is a mistake that happens only at the junior level,” said Brasa. India could convert only one out of their six penalty corners. Brasa said the team had faith in Sandeep Singh’s abilities as he had beaten the same goalkeeper many a time during India’s tour of Europe last year. “But today, the goalkeeper was luckier than Sandeep,” he said.<br /><br />Brasa had refrained from making comments on the umpiring after the match against Australia. But he revealed on Thursday that he had complained to the authorities and the umpires’ manager had agreed that India had been wronged many a time.<br /><br />“Australia’s second goal came off a penalty corner. It shouldn’t have been awarded. India were denied two legitimate penalty corners. All these were confirmed by the umpires’ manager,” Brasa said.</p>.<p>Today’s action </p>.<p>Friday’s matches, all Pool A: <br /><br />* Korea vs New Zealand (4.35 pm).<br />* Netherlands vs Canada (6.35 pm).<br />* Germany vs Argentina (8.35 pm).<br /><br />Matches live on TEN Sports </p>
