Hockey World Cup: Netherlands team arrives in Bhubaneswar | Hockey News

BHUBANESWAR: With nine days to go for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup, the Netherlands team arrived in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.
The Men’s Hockey squad of Netherlands reached Biju Patnaik International Airport here and was accorded a warm welcome at the airport.
The tournament will be held in Odisha from January 13 to January 29.

The Indian squad was the first to reach Odisha on December 27. Currently it is busy with its practice session at Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela.
Three-time champions of the Men’s Hockey World Cup, the Netherlands team is placed in Pool C, along with Malaysia, New Zealand, and Chile.
Netherlands will play its first match against Malaysia at Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela on January 14.
Talking to reporters, Netherlands captain Thierry Brinkman said, “We are very happy to be here, we have good memories …Four years ago, played a really good tournament. Hopefully, we will play well in this tournament as well.
“The crowd here is very friendly, we have some really good teams in this tournament, like Belgium, Australia, India besides, Germany and Argentina. … We are also a strong team…So looking forward to a good tourney”.
Netherlands coach, Jeroen Delmee, said “We are looking forward to playing against India in the finals”.

The silver medallists of the previous edition, who are being led by Thierry Brinkman, will complete their final preparations here before travelling to Rourkela where they will face Malaysia in their first match on January 14.
The Dutch are one of the most decorated hockey teams in the world, having won the trophy in 1973, 1990, and 1998, and reaching the finals in the last two editions.
But coach Delmee said on arrival that he will see how his boys are able to overcome the challenge of inexperience.
“The biggest challenge will be the inexperience in the team and may be the surprises we could face in the World Cup. It will be interesting to see how we will overcome the challenges in the tournament. I have full confidence in my team,” said Delmee.
The Dutch are placed in Pool C, along with Chile, Malaysia and New Zealand. After their match against Malaysia, they will face New Zealand in Rourkela on January 16 and round off their group stage campaign against Chile in Bhubaneswar on January 19.
“I think we will have to fight from game to game and then we will see where we end up in the tournament. Our first target is to reach the quarter-final and then make the semis.
“We will then see how things go on in the final. Of course, if we reach the final then we will hope to turn it around and win the tournament. However, we have a completely different team this time and you cannot compare the current players from the last edition’s team,” added Delmee.
The 16 teams competing in the tournament are Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, India, Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, England, France, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Chile, and Wales.
Captain Brinkman said the team will take a very short break before getting into the rigours of training.
“The last few months in the build-up to the World Cup have been pretty good for us. The team is completely ready. We have just reached India and will have some rest before starting our preparation for the first match. It is amazing to be here again.”
He believes midfielders Jorrit Croon and Jonas de Geus, along with goalkeeper Pirmin Blakk, are exciting prospects and hoped they would light up the tournament.
Meanwhile, several teams of police personnel visited OYO hotels and lodgings under Kharvel Nagar, Capital, Laxmisagar, Sahidnagar, Chandrasekharpur, and Khandagiri police limits here.
During the inspection, the police personnel checked the registers, functioning of CCTV cameras, facilities in the rooms, as well as security systems.
A total of 20 matches will be played at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela. It has a seating capacity of over 20,000.
The Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar which has a seating capacity of over 15,000, will host 24 matches.