Muristek
Potchefstroom, February 11
Having begun the FIH Pro League 2021/22 campaign with two comprehensive wins on the trot, a confident Indian men's hockey team will hope to keep the juggernaut rolling when it takes on France here tomorrow.
In the opening match, India beat France 5-0 with Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Shamsher Singh, Mandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh — who was playing his 200th international match — scoring goals.
"It was good to start off the campaign with a win. Our first quarter was patchy but after that we played a rather composed game. We played to our structure and converted from the chances we created," Indian skipper Manpreet Singh said.
Despite the win, Manpreet believes France are unpredictable and on a good day can surprise any team.
"It's important we don't take them lightly when we play against them on Saturday. We saw what France is capable of when they played against the Netherlands. The match went into a shootout after a 2-2 draw and eventually they lost. Even when we played against them, they created good chances to score," he added.
India are slated to take on hosts South Africa on Sunday and the Tokyo bronze medallists will look to end their South African sojourn on a winning note. India had hammered South Africa 10-2 on Wednesday. —