Bhubaneswar: With just barely a week to go before the much awaited FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup, the Argentina men’s hockey team became the first to arrive in the city when they touched down at Biju Patnaik International Airport, Wednesday morning. The Los Leones will begin their campaign November 29 against Spain.
The Kalinga Stadium is no new to the 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallists as they finished runners-up here during the Hockey World League Finals last December losing to champions Australia in the final. According to senior goalkeeper Juan Vivaldi, the only reason to come so early is to get acclimatised with the new conditions.
“I have seen some pictures of the revamped stadium and it looks great. I also heard that new turf is being laid and that’s one of the reasons we wanted to come early and get used to the conditions and weather,” the 39-year-old said.
“We have had great preparations back home and are looking forward to make a good use of it here. This part of the city definitely has some great crowds and we are hoping for the same like we had last time,” he added.
Speaking about how the team is gelling under new coach German Mariano Orozco, drag-flick specialist Gonzalo Peillat asserted that they are eager to get onto the field.
“We have had some good tournaments recently. The preparations have been good under the new coach and we are eager to take the field,” said the 26-year-old who represented Kalinga Lancers and UP Wizards in the Hockey India League added.
However, Peillat also admitted that the Olympic Champions’ tag wouldn’t matter if they don’t produce their best at the tournament.
Meanwhile, three England hockey officials Ed Barney, Gavin Austin and team manager Andy Halllieay also arrived in the city much before their team’s arrival, which is scheduled for Friday. When asked the reason behind, Andy informed, “We came early just to make sure that all the things are in place and ensure our players a smooth stay during the tournament.”
Negligence or blunder!
Bhubaneswar: In an embarrassing situation the organisers of the men’s hockey World Cup peeled of the stickers of the Asian Athletics Championships (AAC) from the mini bus at Biju Patnaik International Airport of which was to carry the luggages of the Argentina men’s hockey team who landed in the city, Wednesday morning. The incident happened when the media spotted the blunder and started taking visuals. The AAC was hosted by the city last year in July.