We are out of the semi-final race, says Brasa

New Delhi, March 5 (IANS) India coach Jose Brasa said his boys made some childish mistakes that saw the hosts go down 2-5 to Spain Thursday and jeopardised their Hockey World Cup hopes.

Brasa said with the loss against Spain, the team's semi-final chances are all but over.

"We made some childish mistakes. It is disappointing that we are out of the semi-final race. Only a miracle can help us to qualify. But to be frank, we created numerous opportunities and were at par with the Spanish team in terms of performance. It was experience that made the real difference," said the Spaniard.

"For half the boys in this Indian team, this is the first major tournament. And that was visible in the match. The best example was the second goal that we conceded. Spanish captain Pol Amat was left completely unmarked. If we had experienced players, I think such mistakes would not have been committed."

Brasa said the team's target is now to finish fifth and qualify for the Champions Trophy.

Brasa admitted the defence line was not up to the mark and India need to play more international matches to be at par with the top teams of the world.

"We need to play more international matches. We can't expect miracles in six months. But I must say we have improved a lot. The number of chances we created today is an indication about the fact that we are improving. However, we still have a long way to go," he said.

On India's penalty corner conversions (one out of six), Brasa said: "The plan was to get as many short corners and give Sandeep Singh a chance to score. During our European tour, Sandeep had an upper hand against Spanish goalkeeper Francisco Cortes. But it seems this time Cortes was well prepared against Sandeep."

Asked why Diwakar Ram was not used in place of Sandeep for the short corner, Brasa added: "Diwakar was not performing as well as Sandeep."