New Delhi, July 23 - Though disappointed with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for delaying the equipments that he requires for training, India's chief hockey coach Jose Brasa has enough reasons to leave the Indian shores on a positive note for his first tour with the team.
After spending five weeks with the team in Pune's Balewadi Sports Complex, Brasa called his wards as 'gems' and spelt out his targets for the next couple of months.
'Five weeks is not a long time to bring changes in the team. The players are very talented. They are gems and can certainly make a top team,' Brasa tols reporters here Thursday.
The Spaniard said he is working on a lot of areas so that the players can play to their potential.
'They have to improve their basic skills. Defence is one area where we need a lot of improvement. We are conceding last minute goals, which remains a weak point of the team and we have to improve on that aspect,' he said.
'We have to accept that Indian team is ranked 12th in the world and so there is a lot of work to do. But I am very positive with the way the team has responded to all the challenges. I told them that we will face many problems in the way, but we have to find a solution and move ahead.'
The team is leaving for the European tour Thursday night where they wil play 12 Tests against England, Holland, Spain and Belgium.
'They are all top teams and above us in the world rankings. Ideally I would have liked to play against teams which are of equal strength. But this programme was already scheduled.