Sjoerd Marijne praised India’s performance in its 0-2 defeat to defending champion Netherlands in the World Cup but rued his team’s failure to capitalise on its chances in front of goal.
India suffered its first defeat of the campaign in the second round game against the home side on Friday.
“I think we had a really good performance. Most important thing was that we dared to play hockey. That we’re not just pushing back and defending the circle. Against Netherlands, you want to go higher on the pitch and press higher, but they play such fast hockey, so it’s very difficult,” said Marijne.
Despite going a goal down after just 83 seconds, India didn’t allow the free-scoring Netherlands to run away and made it work hard for its win. The Dutch managed to score only two Penalty Corner goals.
India had a few chances of its own, including a couple of PCs and a huge opportunity on the counter, which it failed to put away.
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“In ball possession we really tried to play and we really wanted to create things. And I think we did a few times really well. And then you need to execute. Like against these opponents you get three chances and you need to take one or two. And if you don’t, you know they will come back,” he said.
Marijne felt having back-to-back matches in just a little over 24 hours played a part in India’s lack of control in the final quarter.
“The Netherlands had a day’s rest. And I’m not saying we would have won if we also had a day’s rest. But you saw in the ending we made a lot of technical errors. That also [has to do] with fitness. We are very good, the fitness is really good.
“But playing back-to-back matches, I don’t know if you saw the [football] World Cup, but they don’t play back-to-back matches. But that is something we just have to deal with. So the willpower was really good today,” said the 52-year-old.
Published on Aug 22, 2026
