India hockey coach Paul van Ass satisfied with narrow win over France in World League semis

Van Ass said he had not expected the campaign opener to be an easy outing. (Source: PTI)

India’s 3-2 win over France in their opening match of the FIH Hockey World League Semifinals was unconvincing but head coach Paul van Ass said that he was satisfied with the result.

Van Ass said he had not expected the campaign opener to be an easy outing and his boys managed to earn full points by scoring a late winner in a Pool A match.

“Winning the first match is the important thing. What was significant was not that we allowed the rivals too much space inside our territory, but the fact that we managed to score the third goal and earn full points,” said van Ass after the match.

“There is always some unpredictability at the start of any tournament,” he added.

India scored the winner two minutes from the final hooter through Ramandeep Singh to pull off a 3-2 win over France and begin their campaign on a winning note in Antwerp on Saturday.

Ramandeep lunged forward to slam the ball into the France net in the 58th minute after the scores were levelled at 2-2, courtesy the spadework of captain Sardar Singh at the KHC Dragons Stadium.

The French were shattered at conceding the late match-winner to India.

France’s livewire striker Brisac said it was a massive disappointment to concede the goal with just two minutes left on the clock.

“We were confident and we played a good game, but there is no consolation for conceding the goal so late in the match,” said Brisac.

“We wanted at least one point from this game and came very close to securing that,” he added.

India next play Poland on June 23.

In the other Pool A match on Saturday, Pakistan beat unheralded Poland 2-1.

For Pakistan, this tournament is the last opportunity to qualify for the 2016 Olympics, having lost the Asian Games gold medal to India who became the first team to secure passage to the Rio Games.