Hockey World Cup 2023: Netherlands team receive warm welcome on arrival in Bhubaneswar

The
Netherlands,
led
by

Thierry
Brinkman,
will
complete
their
final
preparations
in
Bhubaneswar
before
travelling
to
Rourkela
on
January
10th,
where
they
will
face
Malaysia
in
their
first
match
of
the
tournament
on
January
14th.

The
Dutch
team
is
one
of
the
most
decorated
in
the
sport,
having
won
the
World
Cup
in
1973,
1990,
and
1998,
as
well
as
reaching
the
Finals
in
the
last
two
editions.

Talking
to
reporters
on
arrival,
Netherlands
captain
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”.

“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,”
said
Jeroen
Delmee.

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.”

The
Netherlands
are
in
Pool
C,
along
with
Chile,
Malaysia
and
New
Zealand.
After
their
match
against
Malaysia
on
the
second
day
of
the
competition,
the
Netherlands
play
New
Zealand
on
January
16th,
in
Rourkela.

They
will
round
up
their
group
stage
campaign
against
Chile
on
January
19th
in
Bhubaneswar.
All
of
the
group-stage
matches
for
the
Netherlands
team
will
start
at
3
PM
IST.

Speaking
about
their
biggest
challenge
in
the
tournament,
chief
coach
Delmee
said,
“The
biggest
challenge
will
be
the
inexperience
in
the
team
and
maybe
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.”

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
touched
upon
how
the
team
prepared
for
the
competition
in
the
last
few
months,
saying,
“The
last
few
months
in
the
build-up
to
the
World
Cup
2023
Bhubaneswar-Rourkela
have
been
pretty
good
for
us.

“The
team
is
completely
ready
for
the
tournament.
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
and
we
are
excited
to
play
in
front
of
the
hockey
fans
in
the
tournament.”

The
captain
also
spoke
about
some
of
the
most
impactful
players
in
his
team,
who
can
cause
havoc
with
their
exciting
skills.

“We
have
a
lot
of
key
players
in
our
team
who
can
light
up
the
tournament.
Jorrit
Croon,
Jonas
de
Geus,
and
goalkeeper
Pirmin
Blakk
are
really
exciting
to
watch
and
I
will
look
to
score
a
few
goals
myself
to
entertain
the
fans
during
the
World
Cup,”
Brinkman
said.

Source:
HI
Release