'One Step At A Time'

"Our main goal in the immediate future is to qualify for the 2008Olympics in Beijing. Our team has the talent and potential and if we perform toour ability, then anything is possible," Carvalho said on the eve of thesix-nation event.

However, Carvalho reiterated that the focus presently is on doing well andwinning the Champions Challenge.

"We need to take one step at a time and so, our focus now is fully onthis tournament," Carvalho said in an exclusive interview.

A sense of quiet confidence pervades the Indian team and underlining the moodwas Carvalho.

Having replaced Vasudevan Baskaran earlier this year in the wake of thedisastrous 2006 World Cup campaign, Carvalho felt that his team was in goodshape to take on the challenge here.

"The 10-day training stint in Germany before we came here was extremelyhelpful," he said.

"We played four practice games against local clubs and won them all.That has put the players in good frame of mind. We made a few changes after theAzlan Shah tournament and I feel, the team is much stronger now than we were inIpoh."

The eight-nation Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia, was thefirst international outing for India and Carvalho.

A bronze medal behind Australia and Malaysia signaled a revival of fortunesfor Indian hockey that was written off after the World Cup.

Though the 1-0 semi-final defeat to a young and inexperienced Malaysia inIpoh still rankles, Carvalho confessed that the overall performance of the teamdid exceed his expectations.

"Honestly, I was rather unsure how things would pan out in Ipoh. Afterall, it was my first tournament as the Indian coach and so it was for the youngteam.

"But now, I am feeling far more confident, specially after the way weplayed in the practice games in Germany earlier this month," he said.

The Indians won all the four matches with score lines of 6-0, 6-2, 4-2 and7-2. The last practice game was played at the Warsteiner Hockey Park inMonchengladbach, the scene of India's 11th place finish at the 2006 World Cup.

"Yes, these matches were against club sides, but it gave our youngstersa lot of exposure in terms of playing against European style of play," thecoach said.

"Though we won all the matches comfortably, the going was not easy. Someof the games were played in rain and cold weather conditions.

"We also had to break through tight defences and also play at a goodpace right through."

The practice games also helped India experiment with various permutationsand combinations besides fine-tuning strategies, he said.

"We worked out some combinations as I wanted to evaluate not just thefitness of the players, but also their individual form and ability."

PTI