India men’s hockey head coach Craig Fulton hailed the character of his team after India scripted a scintillating comeback to clinch the Asian Champions Trophy title on Saturday.
India produced a sensational comeback to overcome a two-goal deficit and clinch the game by 4-3 to become the most successful team in the history of the competition.
With this victory, India became the most successful team in the Asian Champions Trophy, ahead of their arch-rival and three-time champions Pakistan.
“I think what you find is the way that you want these guys to trust each other. The character shown by the group was great. The guys were class they pressed well the younger players stood up so did the older players,” Fulton said in the post-match conference.
The flow of the entire game changed at a key moment when India received a penalty stroke. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh buried his shot past the goalkeeper to reduce the deficit by one for the hosts.
“It took a really key moment from goal 2 to 3 and I think that took a lot of wind out of Malaysia’s sails in a sense and then it was just a matter of time to try and get the winner. We had a really good game against Japan in the semi-final. We did not play that badly but Malaysia controlled the game in the first half. We knew if we get one goal then we can get back in the game,” Fulton added.
Fulton demanded his team to stay grounded after securing a victory in a dramatic fashion, “I think finals are always cagey affairs. So, it is important to have a game like this. So, we have to be grounded. We turned around and showed character.”
Harmanpreet Singh also went on to say in the post-match conference that regardless of the scoreline the Indian team would not have changed their approach
“We had decided that, whether we are leading or we’re behind by 100 goals, our game shouldn’t change and we have to be mentally strong,” Harmanpreet said.
The Indian hockey team’s next conquest will be the Asian Games 2023, Hangzhou on September 23.