Distraught and disappointed, the teary-eyed Indian hockey team sat in disbelief at the Athletes Village on Sunday night, as they watched Olympic champions Germany pump in three goals in four minutes to steal a 3-2 win over New Zealand in their quarter-final.
That was the kind of effort that Sreejesh P.R.’s men needed if they were to realise their Olympic dream of entering the semi-finals — and have a shot at a medal — for the first time since 1980.
“The pain refuses to go,” said Sreejesh in a chat from Rio, as the team spent the day at the Village dwelling on the aftermath of their Olympic campaign, where they finished eighth.
Having played consistent hockey in the league stage and leading Belgium 1-0 till half time in their quarter-final, India had no answers when the Red Lions came charging and switched to full court press.
India gave in to the pressure, losing the encounter 1-3.
“The medal was there in front of our eyes... and it got all over within 30 minutes. Four years of dreams and hard work ended with one bad match,” said Sreejesh, who had a decent tournament overall.
It is not that India were favourites to win a medal in Rio. For a team who missed the 2008 Beijing Games and had finished last in London 2012, it was a story of taking one step at a time. Yet, hopes were raised with the brand of hockey they displayed in Rio — aggressive, controlled and willing to fight till the end.
Reflects Sreejesh, “We are happy with the way we played overall. We ran Germany and Holland close, almost winning those games. There were no big tournament nerves, the team fought back every single time, but then sport is all about results. And we don’t have those to show.
“Except a win against Argentina, we could not beat any top teams and that is what the scoreboard will reflect.”
He though chose to pick on the positives and the need to build on them.
“We cannot go into individual mistakes here and a blame game. We win and lose together.
“For me, the positives are that we finished in the top-eight, matched Germany and Holland in almost every aspect, were even ahead against Belgium in the quarters and yes, we have raised the expectations of those who follow us. That itself shows that we are growing,” the 29-year-old goalkeeper said.
And the grey areas, one asks.
“Handling pressure and execution are the two biggest areas of concern for me as a skipper. We are among the fittest teams in the world right now and have a great coach. The plans and strategies are in place but one has to execute them properly.
“This requires work on every level, be it conceding penalty corners, making chances, defence, getting cards under pressure and executing those plans under pressure makes a difference.
“We came back last night and it was hard to sleep or rest. Everyone knew we could have done better than this, we had the potential but we did not put it on the field 100 per cent, like Germany did.
“I think this is where we lacked the most.”
