New Delhi: Ajit Pal Singh, the 1975 World Cup-winning captain, held the players responsible for the debacle, terming them as a hopeless bunch who are just happy to be Olympians.

“The present players have got a lot of exposure, so they can’t blame anyone for their dismal show. The present team is a hopeless bunch who are just satisfied to be in the Olympics,” Ajit Pal said.

“There is little craze among youngsters to play hockey, so how can you get a pool of strong players. Nationals are not held regularly. We need to first focus at the grassroots level,” he said.

“South Africa started playing hockey only recently. And losing against them is a crime. I think they must ring in the changes now. They need to prepare a blueprint.

“They raised our hopes by putting up a spirited show against Holland in the first match. But the loss against New Zealand and Germany sapped the energy out of them. They played like schoolboys.”

Mervyn Fernandes, a member of the 1984 and 1988 Games squads in Los Angeles and Seoul, said that having gone through the pains of two failed campaigns in the past when the team finished fifth and sixth respectively, he would not criticise the players.

“It’s never easy to play against the top teams like Germany, Holland and Australia without engaging them in contests on a regular basis before the Olympics.

“I would not criticise the players as I myself have gone through this phase,” Mervyn said.

“My expectations were that we would finish between sixth and eighth. We came nowhere... I was expecting to watch one match in the pool.

“If you don’t consider 2008, where we could not qualify, this is the worst ever. We never finished last,” he added.

“What can you expect from our team when we had no defence. What can you do? It’s very very sad. I did not expect much, but not this bad...”