New Indian Express: Hockey novices get lessons from masters

By Swaroop Swaminathan

LUCKNOW: “Aapke mooh mein ghee shakkar (your words are sweet).” Those were coach Cedric D’Souza’s exact words when asked if Austria, just like France in 2013, would reach the final of the ongoing Junior World Cup.

They did not. A heavy defeat to Australia on Monday (coupled with Argentina’s comfortable win over Korea) meant they failed to qualify for the knockout stages. The result, though, shouldn’t take the gloss off from what has, inarguably, been the story of this World Cup so far. There are, according to D’Souza, some 2,500 field hockey players there. For comparison, there are nearly 1,000 registered hockey players in Mumbai alone.

Despite the successes of the underdogs in 2016 — think Leicester in the English Premier League and Iceland in the European Championships — the thought of a seemingly-inferior team upsetting the established order is still enough to send one in search of a shrink. So, how did Austria reach here?

The 60-year-old D’Souza wanted the team, both seniors as well as juniors, to learn. So, he took them on tours where he knew they would get ‘butchered’ by the opposition teams. When he first walked into the Austrian Hockey Federation in March this year, he realised how there was little international exposure. A plan was hatched as he used his contacts to convince bigger teams to play them.

The results were bad, as he himself says. “We took them to the lion’s den,” he says. “If you want to be the best, you play them. Get butchered and learn. And that’s what they have done.”

This tournament has offered ample proof. Their first match was against Argentina, whose senior team won gold at the Olympics. That finished 1-1. Their second match was an emphatic 5-2 victory over Asian powerhouse South Korea.

Their playing style is a very similar template to most teams who are aware of their limitations. “We try to keep a disciplined structure. We know that we are a counter-attacking team and don’t have the skills to match others. So, we play to a plan.”

Crucially, the players of the team have not only backed the plan, but have also actively endorsed it. “We started our initial preparations some five years ago,” Oliver Binder, who scored for them against Argentina, says. “We played close to 15 times against the likes of Bangladesh, Netherlands, England and Germany. At first, we were nowhere close to them. But we have improved gradually. We might not have the skills of other players, but we have a fighting spirit.”

That was evident during their encounter against Los Leonos. After being a goal down, they showed immense courage to fightback and get a point. Binder’s goal also evoked an Antonio Conte-esque reaction from ‘the grand old man of hockey’, as D’Souza is known in the hockey fraternity. He continued celebrating with fist-pumps well after the DJ had stopped playing goal music.

The Delhi Waveriders coach in the Hockey India League is no stranger to helming sides that are firmly in the sport’s backwaters. He was Greece’s manager when they featured in the 2004 Olympics. But, he doesn’t think there is room to conflate both jobs. “There is a big difference between the two. The player base is a lot smaller here. That makes the job tougher. The focus was also only on the national team, whereas here we are trying to put a structure in place.”