FIH PRO LEAGUE 2024/25: Indian players have been successful at home at the training camp with the former striker of Australia McCann

The Indian Male Hockey Team has credited its impressive performances in the FIH Pro League to a week -long camp with the legendary Australian striker Michael McCann, with players guaranteeing his cutting -edge techniques who helped them to dominate the rivals in Bhubaneswar.

The bronze team of the Paris Olympic Games, led by Harmanpreet Singh, won five of the eight League games in the home line, losing a match in Spain, Germany and England before beating these teams in the return matches. India also beat Ireland 3-1 and 4-0.

India is currently third in the table on 15 points behind England and Belgium, which each have 16 points. India has the greatest number of victories, followed by England, Belgium and the fourth Germany, which won four victories each after eight games.

McCann, 47, was part of the Australian team who won the gold of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games in addition to the 2005 Champions Trophy in Chennai.

McCann, who was in Bhubaneswar from February 6 to 12, has been working for almost eight years with the German teams U21 and Senior.

Australia Michael McCann won the gold of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games in addition to the 2005 Champions Trophy. | Photo credit: Vino John / The Hindu

Stronger Mandeep Singh said McCann has paid special attention to the details of the minutes that enter the goals on the ground.

“It was a very good camp and Michael was not only extremely informative in the field, but his off -scope meetings were also extremely well informed where he showed us many short clips on specific areas,” said Mandeep in a version of India hockey.

“I particularly appreciated the bases inside the” D “, drawn on Target two feet from the goal,” said Mandeep, who played a key role in advance, marking a breathtaking goal against Ireland during the 3-1 victory in India.

“He also taught us new things specific to the head of the strikers and to the recovery in the circle and the way of deviating from the brand of nine yards near the D with two affected to the goal.

“Little things like, the angle of the body while receiving the ball, a false passing to beat the defenders in the D was fun to learn. If you see our performance in the professional league, we have scored a lot of goals on the ground. It was a very good learning point for us, ”he added.

The chief coach of India, Craig Fulton, said that the short camp would certainly have helped young people a lot.

“It was great to have Michael here before our pro League campaign. This would particularly help young people from the team and although it is a short camp, it was very effective. We have worked a lot of bases and also had sessions out of the field so that players can also interact with him. We look forward to having more such sessions leading to the World Cup and Asian Games next year, “said Fulton.

McCann Coaching will be useful while India is preparing for the exhausting European leg leg in June, this year’s Asian Cup and the World Cup next year.

The former Captain of the India Colts, Uttam Singh, said that McCann’s lessons at the end of the movements were very beneficial for him.

“The things I particularly liked to work on is my finish. Michael explained how to finish, when we cannot have a complete attempt on the goal. Receiving the ball, in what position we must be in the second post, on which side we must hold the stick and how important it is to look at the position of the goalkeeper when we take strike was some of the finest details that will help me in the long term, “said Singh.