India will wait for the conclusion of Oceania championship to confirm their World Cup qualification.
There was a time when India was known for its hockey. We were the world champions and Hockey was considered as the National game of India. Time change, things change. This quote tells the present situation of the Indian Hockey team. With the changing time, the Indian Hockey has undergone a big change. The situation gets worse when we say that India has to wait for a long period to know whether they are qualified to play in World Cup 2014 or not.
Indian team had a great chance to get a direct entry in the World Cup 2014 by winning the Asia Cup 2013. They started the tournament on a high note, but failed in the finals. India played beautifully throughout the whole tournament, especially there win against Bangladesh with a score of 9 – 1. They even won against the Asia Cup winners in the league match. In the semifinal, they played against Malaysia and defeated them by 2 – 0. In the finals, Indian team started the game positively but things went wrong in the first half for them. Korea took a lead of 2 – 0 in the first half of the game by scoring back to back goals in 28th and 29th minute of the game. Starting the second half, Indian team came back strongly by scoring two goals within 10 minutes. The scores were equal on the 55th minute of the game.
Before the last two minutes of the game, both the teams were on the score of 3 – 3; then came the penalty corner for Korea, which they converted into a goal pretty decently by Kang Moon Kweon. With this goal, Indian hopes of entering in the World Cup 2014 directly were dead. If we go on the statistics, Indian team is still in the race of qualifying for the World Cup 2014. There is going to be Oceania Cup in the latter half of the year between Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. As we know, that both Australia and New Zealand have already qualified for the World Cup 2014. If anyone of them wins the Oceania Cup, India will qualify for the World Cup 2014. But, if anyhow Fiji wins, Indian team will have to sit at home and watch the World Cup from there itself.
Indian fans expect a lot from the team but there have been a lot of ups and downs for the team. There have been several issues or incidents which they have to undergo. The team is getting back on the track which they have shown us by their performance in the Asia Cup. If they get a chance to play in World Cup 2014 which is to be played in Netherlands, they will definitely play above their potential in order to prove them.