"It was not just a win, it was a statement," gushed head coach Craig Fulton after the Indian hockey team emerged victorious after playing more than 40 minutes of a tense quarterfinal match against Great Britain with just 10 players at Paris Olympics on Sunday. Key defender Amit Rohidas was given the marching order in the 17th minute for hitting an opposition player with his stick. Britain were already dominating the match with superior ball possession and it put India in a very tricky position. The Tokyo Games bronze medallist side, though, braved the red card and played the second half without conceding a goal, saving nine penalty corners in the process.
Sreejesh then made two saves in the shootout to script India's win, which took them closer to a second consecutive Olympic medal.
"We've been talking about defence for 14 months and we dug deep and Sri (Sreejesh) was immense. When you talk about defence, it's also about showing your love for your teammate by covering him and helping him. And Sreejesh did that for us and we did that for him." Asked if it was the toughest assignment for him, he said, "Yeah, for sure." "Everything is at stake. And everything went the other way than we thought it would go. So, what an amazing day. That's why I'm saying it's a statement versus a match." The coach said the Indian team dealt with the situation the way it should have been dealt.
"When our backs are against the wall, we're all roped in. We're all in this together. When shit happens, get together. Respond straight away and we did. So, we scored and then we had someone to defend and then the guys just carried on." "It wasn't pretty. It's never going to be pretty. Ten men in a quarterfinal. I don't know how many chances they had. But today was our day. Everyone gathered around and worked the tactics. It was a full, full staff. Everyone was hands-on and it was a fantastic day.
"It wasn't just a win, it was a statement. It was a real statement," he repeated.
Asked if the red card worked as a blessing in disguise, the South African said, "We wanted to play them normal." "Like, I don't think any red card is a blessing. We needed to score and we did. We had a chance. We needed something to defend. So that had to come and it would help our tactics. And then we needed to push it as long as possible. If they did score, we got to shoot out." Fulton said.
"Well, an hour ago we were up against them. Now we're talking about a semi-final. So, you go slowly, slowly, slowly."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)