Netherlands favourites to win Punjab Gold Cup: German coach

Chandigarh, Jan 30: Germany is the reigning Olympic Champions and one of the top sides in world hockey, but coach Marcus Weise sprang a surprise and pipped European Champions, the Netherlands as the favourites to win the four-nation Punjab Gold Cup which starts here on Saturday.“Though we have four players who played at the last Olympics in our team, but rest others are young and learning. We are a younger side and moreover, we are not here looking for results. We are more interested about developing the sport and the team for next year`s World Cup,” German coach Weise told reporters here on Friday evening. While Germany has experienced players including goalkeeper Max Weinhold, mid-fielders Mortiz Furste, Tobias Hauke and skipper Max Muller in their squad, the rest of the team is relatively unexperienced young. “It won`t be a tragedy if we are not in the finals of the tournament. We want to test a few new players, how they compete and how they fit in (in future) is our concern,” Weise said, adding according to him the Dutch are undoubtedly the title favourites. However his Indian counterpart, Harender Singh said the hosts are eyeing to win the tournament as it provides the eight time Olympic Champions a big platform to redeem their last year`s performance. “By winning here, we can start our preparations for the upcoming big events including next year`s Commonwealth Games and the World Cup on a right note,” he said. Even Muller, who was present in the media briefing alongwith India skipper Sandeep Singh and coach Harender, echoed his coach`s views, saying, “We are a bit too young. This will be our first tournament playing outdoors as we have been playing in indoor stadium back home.” Asked if being top team in world hockey, puts extra pressure on the side, Muller said, “Yes, there is definitely pressure being world number one and Olympic champions. But at the same time, ressure gives us motivation for training harder and to perform even better.” Muller also heaped praise on his Indian counterpart Sandeep for his drag-flicking abilities. New Zealand team manager Tony Edwards also addressed the media and said his side was a “good mixture of young and experienced players”. Meanwhile, the four-nation tournament will kick off here tomorrow when India takes on New Zealand in the first match while Holland will lock horns with Germany in the second encounter later in the evening. New Zealand coach Edwards praised the organisers for doing a great job. “We look forward to the exciting hockey matches. We are having a very comfortable stay and the hospitality is really good,” he added. He felt the four-nation tournament was the right platform to prepare teams for the 2010 World Cup. “It gives us the right opportunity to mould the team for the big challenge,” he said. Meanwhile, asked what kept them away from Indian soil for the last 30 years, the German coach did not spell out definite reasons, but said it could have been because of clash of dates with the domestic hockey in Germany. Bureau Report