“Our first focus is to qualify for the semi-finals and our final aim is to play for the gold medal. If that were to happen then the international community would really sit up and notice the hockey revolution that is taking place in Chile.”
The statement above was spoken by Jaime (Coco) Zarhi, captain of Chile men, as he contemplates the prospect of competing in the 2019 Pan American Games taking place in Lima, Peru.
Chile are just one of eight teams that will be contesting the Pan American Games men’s hockey competition, which has the additional lure of providing a qualification route straight to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Chile recently competed in the FIH Series Finals in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage but, in a highly competitive field, could only manage sixth place. Nevertheless, the experience of playing sides from Europe and Asia will have widened the tactical awareness and developed the robustness necessary to perform consistently well in a tournament situation. Zaire himself didn’t compete in France but, for the Pan American Games, he will be hoping to use all the experience gained during his 150 plus cap career to push Chile onwards.
The gold and silver medals at the Pan American Games have been dominated throughout the competition’s 13-edition history by just two teams, Canada and Argentina. The north American side has won gold on four occasions, with their South American rivals finishing top of the podium on nine occasions.
The battle between the two highest ranked teams – Argentine are fourth in the world rankings, with Canada six places below them in 10th place – will be fascinating.
Los Leones have had an up and down time in the inaugural FIH Pro League, finishing in fifth place, just out of the top four and out of subsequent qualification for the Pro League Grand Final. During much of the six month home and away league, Argentina had to do without the services of their drag flick specialist Gonzalo Peillat who chose to play club hockey in Europe instead of playing for the national team.
Over a 14-match period, Argentina won six matches, lost five and drew two. Their home match against Germany was cancelled because of hazardous weather conditions (a tournament rule that could have affected Argentina’s final placing in the league: had they won that game and accrued all three points, they would have finished fourth ahead of Great Britain).
The past six months, combined with a below par performance at the men’s World Cup in December, could be just the motivating factor that German Orozco and his men need to put on a dazzling display in Lima.
If Argentina’s confidence has taken a knock, Canada are on a high. The Canadian team are through to the Olympic qualifiers in October and November by virtue of a consistent performance throughout the FIH Series Finals event in Malaysia. Although Canada lost their opening match to the tournament’s surprise package, Wales, they regrouped and put on a dominant series of performances that took them into a showdown in the final with host nation Malaysia. Canada held firm against a skilful Malaysian team and a stadium full of home supporters to register a 3-2 win.
Among the many positive factors to emerge from that competition was the team’s fitness level; the potential of young players such as Jamie Wallace; and the enduring quality of stalwarts such as captain Scott Tupper and goalkeeper David Carter – who also picked up the Goalkeeper of the Tournament award.
USA and Mexico, ranked 24th and 32nd respectively, have also recently enjoyed FIH Series Finals action, although neither team has emulated Canada’s qualification to the next stage.
For USA the Series Finals in Bhubaneswar were a wake-up call to the squad’s ability. Even head coach Rutger Wiese was surprised when his team finished top of their pool and qualified straight through to the semi-finals after beating higher ranked team South Africa and drawing with Asian Games champions Japan. “Our objective was to advance to the next round, which we did, but we weren’t planning to qualify directly for the semi-finals,” said Wiese. “We’re very proud of the guys, they worked extremely hard. This is the team USA we like to see. Our goalkeeper and two full-backs in particular had an outstanding performance.”
Unfortunately for USA, they were then knocked out of the top two places during a rematch with South Africa and the team finished fourth overall, but the ability to compete with, and beat, higher ranked teams is a confidence the squad will hold onto as they prepare for the challenge in Lima.
Mexico finished seventh in Bhubaneswar after they beat Uzbekistan in their final match. The team, under the guidance of Pol Moreno, have moved seven places up the world rankings to 32nd. While they are unlikely to make the podium in Lima, Mexico have a long-term strategy and every minute of international competition is an invaluable experience.
Although Trinidad and Tobago have slipped to 37th in the World Rankings, they are a team that is always capable of an upset. Their pool A rivals Argentina, Chile and Cuba would do well to remember that, in Kwan Browne, if he plays, the Caribbean team has a wily campaigner with heaps of coaching and playing experience under his belt. Browne has explicitly said he would like one more crack at Olympic qualification, so he will be going all out to inspire the team to greatness.
Cuba (WR:69) and Peru (WR:55) are the two teams that make up the eight competitors taking to the pitch in Lima. For Cuba, this is a chance to restore the glory days of just 16 years ago when they were bronze medalists for two consecutive edition. Since then, the Cuban team has slipped down the finishing order, with 2017 providing the team’s poorest ever finish, in eighth place. Expect them to come out fighting this time around and eyeing Chile as a team that they can gain valuable points from in the pool round.
For Peru, this is as much about growing the game and celebrating the installation of top quality facilities as it is about winning medals and plaudits on the pitch. True, every Peruvian supporter will be cheering themselves hoarse whenever Peru take to the field but, with the other members of pool B, USA, Canada and Mexico all flying high at the moment, the support will likely be for effort rather than outcome.
And so, with a berth at the Olympic Games on offer, the stakes couldn’t be much higher. And, as every sports fan knows, one of the beauties of tournament play is that you should always expect the unexpected.
