Now Reading: 1975 World Cup heroes tell Indian hockey team to play for country
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1975 World Cup heroes tell Indian hockey team to play for country
Ashok Kumar and Aslam Sher Khan, heroes of India's only Hockey World Cup win in 1975, have urged the current team to prioritise national pride over individual ambition when the tournament begins…
The Story in Brief
Ashok Kumar and Aslam Sher Khan, heroes of India's only Hockey World Cup win in 1975, have urged the current team to prioritise national pride over individual ambition when the tournament begins in the Netherlands and Belgium from August 15. India has not won a men's World Cup medal in 51 years. Ashok, who scored the winner against Pakistan in 1975, said victory or defeat belongs to the country, not the player, and this thought should inspire them. Aslam, who scored the semi-final equaliser against Malaysia, said the players must approach the cup with the same passion as playing for their mother.
The Indian Opinion
The recurring appeal to patriotism risks masking a harsher truth: India's Olympic medals in Tokyo and Paris did not come from 'playing for the motherland' alone but from professionalised coaching, SAI funding, and the Hockey India League's revival. The 1975 team had its own structural advantages, a single-minded camp in Chandigarh and an unbroken core from earlier World Cups. The real test for this side is not passion but whether it can convert short-corner chances under pressure and defend counterattacks from Belgium and the Netherlands, the two teams it must beat to end 51 years of hurt.
Source: deccanherald.com
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