The first visuals at the end of India's World Cup quarterfinal loss to Ireland didn't make for pleasant viewing. As Ireland celebrated their shootout win, Indian captain Rani Rampal, who missed the first penalty, looked visibly distraught with her head pressed to her knees. Coach Sjoerd Marijne could be seen blinking back tears.
Marijne would put on a brave face after it all. "Right now they don't feel that (confidence from the way they played). But they soon will," he said after the game - India's last before they head to the Asian Games in Jakarta later this month.
There are two sides to India's performance at the World Cup. There's the good news -- this was the first time since 1978 they have finished in the top eight. The other end of the scale was the fact that they lost twice in as many games to Ireland - a side ranked 16th in the world. The second defeat would hurt more for they seemed to lack initiative and a will to assert themselves.
"I'd say this was a par performance," sums up former men's captain Viren Rasquinha. He points out that while India notched up some good results to make the last eight - holding higher ranked England and the U.S. to draws in the league phase - they also had avoided meeting heavyweights like Argentina, Netherlands, Germany or Australia.
What stood out for Rasquinha was how the team performed defensively. Over five matches they conceded just three goals, with England and the U.S. scoring two between them. Rasquinha recalls watching the side at the 2016 Rio Olympics, with his head held between his hands as India leaked 19 in five games with six conceded against Great Britain and the U.S. combined. "There was a colossal difference between us and the best in the world. We couldn't match their strength, fitness or speed. Compared to that we are far more structured and defensively very sound," says Rasquinha.
But defence is just half the game. "You won't beat the best teams in the world without scoring goals," says Rasquinha. India scored just five goals over the tournament - three of those coming against Italy - the lowest ranked team in the tournament. "We had 58 percent possession against Ireland. We got more circle penetrations, but it didn't look like we were playing to win," says MK Kaushik, former coach of the women's team.
That possession wasn't convertible into goals was due to the nature of it - particularly in the quarterfinal against Ireland. "I don't think we had a single clear chance at a goal," says Rasquinha. "In a fast-paced game like hockey, you generally need about seven-eight chances before you score. It's very unusual not to have a single attempt on goal," he says. Perhaps the team was nervous - at the possibility of playing their first semi-final in 44 years, suggests Rasquinha. "Maybe if they had won the shootout, their plan might have been justified. But they were clearly tentative," he says.
Kaushik notes the absence of clear chances too. "We were never in a situation when we were two on one against a defender. We were trying to force our way past defenders. We dodged instead of finding a player to pass to," he says.
There is a pretty easy explanation for that: The trade-off made for a packed defence was few players in position to break on the counter.
"The only way to create chances is to have more players in attack. A team like Australia does that, which is why they are able to keep so much pressure on you all the time. While we were able to defend, we weren't able to get our players forward," says Rasquinha.
The lack of bodies up front could be both a physical as well as a psychological issue according to Kaushik. "Our speed off the ball has to be better. There were times I noticed players walking while our forwards had the ball. You can't do that in hockey. Our players' fitness has clearly improved from the past but there's still more work to be done," says Kaushik. The cautiousness to go forward could also be a sign of the team understanding its limits. "You can't press forward with a lot of people if you are worried about being hit on a counter," he says.
The risk-free approach won't work against the best teams, according to Rasquinha. "If you are playing against a team like the Netherlands, you have to find a way to score against them because no matter how structurally sound you are in your defence, they will manage to score goals. The team has to develop the confidence to take risks," he says.
He feels that will come eventually. "The first area for a weak team to improve is its defence. We have done that. The next step is to get even better physically and be willing to take risks in attack. That's how you will go on to play semi-finals of these tournaments," says Rasquinha.
While the loss to Ireland was disappointing, both Kaushik and Rasquinha are optimistic about the Asian Games. "There's scope for improvement but at least at the Asian levels, they should count themselves as the favourites to win gold," says Rasquinha. This is a cautious endorsement though. "India beat Italy, who beat China 3-0 and South Korea 1-0. But at the same time we will be under pressure to beat them and we didn't do so well under pressure against Ireland," says Kaushik.