Brasa's knowledge of Spanish players gives India the edge in today's crucial tie
Brasa's knowledge of Spanish players gives India the edge in today's crucial tie
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Spanish coach Jose Brasa may sound a tad overconfident when he says that India can beat Spain in today's crucial Pool B encounter of the World Cup. However, Brasa has enough reason to back his claim.
"Spain are without two very important members of their side because of injuries, Santiago Freiza and Eduard Tubau. For me, Santi is one of the best players in the world and his absence has really hurt the Spaniards which is evident from their defeat to Pakistan yesterday," Brasa told MiD DAY after India's 2-5 defeat to Australia at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Tuesday.
Personal knowledge
However, the real reason for Brasa' s extreme confidence is different. "I have coached most of these Spanish players during their junior days and know them very well," he said with a wink.
"Besides, Spain is in a worse position than us. They are the No 3 team in the world and the pressure is on them to beat us," added Brasa.
Spanish skipper Pol Amat admitted there was a lot of pressure on his boys. "With Australia losing to England and we going down to Pakistan, this Pool is very open now.
"All the teams, other than England, who are on six points, are very closely placed. The two semi-finalists could well be decided right at the end. So, this makes every match a must-win game for us. We have to beat India if we are to make the last four," said Amat.
India have three more matches to go in the league phase and beating Spain is very important as the remaining two matches are against England and South Africa.
The hosts need at least three victories if they are to comfortably make it to the semi-finals and while a win over South Africa will also be expected, England look to be in superb form, having first beaten former Olympic champions Australia 3-2 and then slammed the South Africans by a tennis score, 6-4.
Brasa also preferred to look at simple logic, even though it may seem funny. "It's very simple, you see. India beat Pakistan and Pakistan beat Spain. So, it's only obvious that we should be able to beat Spain," he told the media during a press briefing. His statement brought the house down.
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