Hockey World Cup 2018: China vs Ireland - 3 Talking points

#1 Ireland lack cohesion and marksmanship in the striking circle

The Irish were wasteful in spite of creating numerous chances

While the Chinese defence did a fair bit to thwart the Irish strikers, the Green Machine have only themselves to blame for quite a few chances being wasted in front of an almost-open goal.

Wang Caiyu got the angles covered many a time but even when the Chinese goalkeeper was partly beaten, the Irish strikers tried to get the ball into the net with almighty swings when all they needed to do was use their wrists to deftly guide the ball home.

As the Irish positioned themselves to take the powerful goalbound cracks, the nimble and fleet-footed Chinese defenders found the time to get their sticks in the way, as a result of which several shots were deflected wide while a few others failed to connect altogether.

Indian hockey fans would well have remembered their own team's travails in the Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast when the strikers did everything that was needed to be done but failed to find the back of the net on account of not being cohesive enough in the attacking circle.

Alexander Cox will surely appreciate the fact that no matter how good the Chinese were in defending their citadel, the Green Machine could easily have scored a second had they been a bit more patient and organized in front of goal.

Sadly, they now face a herculean task and will need to get past England in order to be certain of making it to the crossovers. Incredibly enough, a win for either England or Ireland, on Friday, will be enough for the Chinese to advance to the knockouts.