With the pressure of having to make it to the final off his back, India's chief coach Rajinder Singh declared that India "will go all out to win" their maiden Asia Cup hockey title on Sunday.
India raised their game by several notches in the dying minutes of the semi-final against holders South Korea to win 4-2 and enter the final of the sixth edition of the prestigious tournament on Friday.
"Though we did miss a couple of chances, we made up for it by scoring late in the second half. It was a good victory for the team," a much relieved Rajinder told reporters after the match.
He conceded that the Koreans gave his team a scare after scoring first, following a goalless first half, but was pleased that his boys managed to launch a late rally to make it to their fifth Asia Cup final.
"Now we are geared to take on any team in the final. We are confident of even beating Pakistan if they make it to the title clash," he said.
The coach said the Koreans played a "very fast game" but India did well to avail the chances that they got in the second half.
"There is pressure on every team to win. My boys did well to withstand the pressure," he said.
Rajinder said he is not too worried about the team conceding a goal in the last minute, saying "such things are common" under pressure.
"They [the Koreans] launched an attack but in doing that they also left open spaces and made it easy for our forwards to score," Rajinder said.
The coach defended his decision to take Sandeep Michael out of attack although his rationale was not too convincing.
"I want Michael to play for another 10 years. I don't want to put him under too much pressure as he is young. I want him to learn more and more by sitting on the sidelines," he said.
On defender Dilip Tirkey missing a simple chance off India's first penalty-corner, the coach said, "He was not rightly positioned, so he made a mistake and slipped to miss the chance."
Asked whether it has become a regular habit for Indians to earn a yellow card in the last few minutes, Rajinder said: "Not much can be done about rough tackles because the pressure is simply too much in the last few minutes. It has become a part of the game in high-pressure matches."
Michael, who provided India the breakthrough and helped the team equalise 1-1, said he did not go for a direct hit as the Korean goalkeeper had padded away such shots successfully.
"I thought I would deceive him and score and this is what happened."
Baljit Singh Saini said India will play their hearts out in the final "notwithstanding who our opponent is."
"The team is really high on spirits now and wants to win the final," he added.
