The Men's Pan American Cup will open Saturday on a brand new turf in Brampton, just outside of Toronto, Canada. It is only the fourth edition of this competition, with a different winner for each of the first three: Cuba won the inaugural event at home in 2000, after beating Argentina in pool play and Canada in the final (2-1); Argentina won the second edition in London (just a few kilometres West of Brampton), breaking Canadian hearts in front of their home crowd in the final (2-1); and in 2009 Canada finally climbed onto the top step of the podium in Santiago, Chile, but needed overtime goals in both their semi-final against Argentina and final against the USA.
Apart from continental bragging rights, the winner of the Pan American Cup will qualify for the 2014 World Cup in The Netherlands. Argentina is already qualified for this World Cup after their superb performance at the recent FIH World League Semi-final in Johor, Malaysia, where they finished 2nd behind Germany, but ahead of England and Korea. If, however, they win in Brampton, the runner-up would not benefit from an automatic World Cup berth.
For the first time, a Pan American competition will be streamed "live" on the Internet! The Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF) has partnered with the Streaming Sports Network (SSN), a division of ISI Global Webcasting, to produce all 20 matches of the competition and bring the show to field hockey fans all over the Americas. The link to the streaming panel will be available on the PAHF web site @ www.panamhockey.org/
Ranked 10th in the world, Argentina is the favourite of the competition. Still on the momentum of their successful World League campaign they arrive in Brampton with a seasoned roster, with an average of 85 Caps and many top level international competitions (Olympic Games and World Cups) under their belts.
Canada is not far behind in the world rankings (14th) but are in a rebuilding phase after the retirement of iconic stalwarts Ken Pereira, Rob Short and other veterans in the last few years. At the World League Round 2 in Saint-Germain, France, they showed talent, but also lack of experience in the close or decisive matches. They will be counting on home crowd support to boost them when in difficulty.
Chile are ranked third in this competition, based on the Bronze Medal captured at the 2011 Pan American Games. They are also in a renewal phase and will be under threat from a strong US team, arriving with a balanced mixed of experience and youth, and certainly eager to renew their coup from the last Pan American Cup, when they reached the final and were only a few minutes away from causing a huge upset against Canada.
Trinidad & Tobago have slipped down the rankings in recent years (only 7th at the 2011 Pan American Games) but have assembled a strong and experienced team for this competition, led by their charismatic and indestructible leader Kwan Browne who, with 287 international Caps, has played in all Pan American competitions since 1999!
Mexico (average age of 21 and 15 international Caps), Brazil (average age of 22 and 21 Caps) and Uruguay (average 29 Caps) have young and relatively inexperienced teams, but have prepared well for this continental competition and should not be taken lightly. Uruguay and Brazil qualified after finishing first and second at the 2011 Pan American Challenge. Brazil has an additional incentive to perform well as they try to prove to the International Federation that they should be allowed to play in the 2016 Olympic Games at home in Rio.
Teams placed 7th and 8th in Brampton will have to play in 2015 in the 2nd tier Pan American competition, the Pan American Challenge.
All information on the 2013 Pan American Cup (schedule, results, pictures, reports, streaming link, etc...) can be found on the PAHF web site @ www.panamhockey.org/
