Delhi, 10 Jan 2014: Ahead of their opening Pool B match against Argentina, the Netherlands coach Paul van Ass expressed caution while speaking of their good chances to win the first game at the Hero World Hockey League Final at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here on Friday. But anyone who saw them train for the last few days would know that the Dutch are no pushovers this time.

“We just need to be careful. We are very confident of winning,’’ he said. Yesterday the Orange brigade caught the eye of the connoisseur with their well-charted training session which included a one-on-one two-hour session by a trainer for a “special individual’’ player, which was video recorded with a camera-mounted stick for later analysis. The hard session left the player sweating and fretting with hardly a rest of one minute between the drills, the training helped one understand how determined are the Dutch team to become the first-winners of the World League. The rest of the team team too had innovative training workouts, penalty corner drills and goalie training separately.

They will have to ward off a tough challenge from the Germans and the Aussies if they have to turn the tide of recent losses in the finals of big events. For that they have to go with all the seriousness in the first game what with Argentina known for their giant-killing acts in the openers.

“We have a good chance to win beat Argentina but we will have to be careful and carry our job well to make sure that the opponent team does not get any chances. The practice sessions have helped the injured players to come back. No doubt, it will be a tough game and we are well prepared and ready.”

Skipper Robert van Der Horst was more positive: “Good training and hard work always yields good results. We focused on all important aspects like free hits, off the ball running around the circle and short corner variations. Working on such details and polishing the skills during the trainings always shows a good result in the games we play.’’

“We have been undergoing sustained training sessions including some practice games and have been working out all the winter. We also practiced in Holland and even went to Valencia and Spain,’’ he added.

“Argentina showcased good skills during the practice sessions here and they have excellent players in the team. We respect them and it won’t be an easy game today. Having said that we are here to win and we will put in our best.”

Argentina may be the lowest ranked team featuring in the tournament but coach Carlos Retegui sees this as an important part of his team’s learning curve. “This is a very important tournament for us because we will be playing against the best teams in the world. Playing these teams will help us grow and become better; essential if we are to rise up the international rankings,” he said a couple of days back.

Recent performances by Argentina suggest that they are more than capable of playing above their rankings. In the World League Semifinal in Johor Bahru, they pushed Germany all the way, eventually losing 4-2.

ends