By: Ashish Ballal

I have always held that forwards and midfielders can win you matches, but goalkeepers win you championships. Sreejesh proved that as India beat Pakistan at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium. Earlier, goalscorers were the ones fondly remembered and the keepers got noticed only if they saved shots during tie-breakers.

But Sreejesh’s work in goal over the past few years has been excellent and he has rightfully been praised for it, especially at Incheon.

Incidentally, it was the shootout in the final that summed up the tournament for him. Previously, too, Sreejesh bailed out the team’s defence on several occasions. But when the match went into shootouts, I wasn’t really worried about how he’d do in the tie-breaker. I knew he’d save at least two. I was more worried about our penalty takers!

It was a stroke of luck that Pakistan were involved in a shootout in their semifinal. That gave our boys a chance to study their approach and keep themselves prepared. It was also something that helped the team in 1998 when we played South Korea in the final. We had studied videos of the Koreans taking penalties and also got a chance to see them in the shoot-out in a previous game in Bangkok.

The format has changed since then and, in a way, it has become slightly easier for the goalkeepers. Before if a keeper saved a stroke, it was a big achievement. But with the new format, if a striker scores, it’s considered terrible goalkeeping. But this is not taking anything away from Sreejesh.

He has been wonderful throughout the tournament and has actually been the pillar of this team at Incheon.

The gold medal for us in 1998 was something we cherished for the rest of our lives. We hadn’t won much before that, and frankly nothing after the Asiad triumph either. Here the boys actually look in good touch and can get better. And they must. They are young and should use this gold as a stepping stone to greater success. They shouldn’t be satisfied with what they won here. They shouldn’t stop at this.

(Ashish Ballal was the goalkeeping hero of the 1998 Asian Games gold-winning Indian team. He spoke with Shahid Judge.)