New Delhi: Indian eves coach C R Kumar said he was satisfied with the effort and vowed that his team will go full throttle against the South Africans in the final of the Olympic qualifiers on Saturday.
"We made many penetrations in the first half but unfortunately we couldn't score. Italy knew they just needed a draw and they played accordingly. They seldom attacked our goal. So we got very little space inside the circle but what was important was a win, it doesn't matter whether we win by one goal or more. I am happy with the result," Kumar told reporters, after the match.
Kumar said today's win will motivate his team and they will go all out against the top-ranked South Africans on Saturday.
"Today's win will motivate the team ahead of the finals against South Africa. The players know tomorrow's game will be the final, so they will put in all their energy to win this tie," he said.
Asked if his team will be able to get over their 2-5 loss against South Africa, Kumar said: "They have the mental strength to come out of that defeat. In the last match, we gave a lot of room to South Africa, so we will try to minimise our mistakes, we will try to play compact hockey."
India earned as many as six penalty corners and gave away as many to their rivals and Kumar admitted this remains a concern for India.
"Stopping penalty corner is a concern for us but we are not the only team to face problems on that front, other teams also faced similar problems," he said.
India last played in the Olympics in 1980 Moscow Games on an invitational basis and defender Joydeep Kaur admitted there was pressure on his team going into the crucial match.
"Pressure was always there, we knew we have to win the match to get into the finals. We needed a goal and that could have come anytime," she said.
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