ERROL D’CRUZ

A few years ago, Pakistan lost a European tour opener to Ireland 0-1. Fans expressed outrage online, one of whom said it’s less said the better on how the tour would go if Pakistan lost to such a lowly team. How ignorant are many sub-continental fans on what happens in world hockey. But you can’t fully blame them. Hockey, after all, doesn’t draw centre-stage media coverage and gets some attention by and large only at the Olympics.

So Ireland’s progress, especially in the last 10 years or so, may come as a shock to many, even in the hockey fraternity, whose interest only covers their team and ends abruptly after that.

For the informed, Ireland’s narrow 1-2 defeat while giving vaunted Australia a run for their money wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. At the 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar, it was the same scoreline and does much to suggest that Ireland are to be viewed with respect and not a little circumspection.

India will be mindful of that on Tuesday at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir where Olympic hockey is in progress at Paris 2024.Especially since the Indian camp may be more aware than others of Ireland’s climb into the top echelons of hockey.

They may have learned that it took the Irish 108 years to enter the Olympics again. But the man they have to thank will be in the Indian dugout, plotting against them. His name: Craig Fulton, a South African who coached Ireland to the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2018 World Cup after moulding them into a combative, competitive and skilful outfit.

The Indians will be hoping it could work in their favour as Fulton knows his adversaries through-and-through. Fifth-ranked India have won the last five encounters against 11th ranked-Ireland if statistics are anything to go by. The Irish have beaten India once, in 2018, so it won’t exactly be mission impossible.

Ireland have played the two highest-ranked teams in a difficult Pool B, losing both but with heads held high. They went down to Belgium, defending champions, 0-2 before their aforementioned defeat to Australia who were compelled to produce their A Game in defence.

India have a win over New Zealand (3-2) and a fortuitous 1-1 draw against Argentina behind them. The eight-time Olympic gold medallists, however, are under fire for below-par performances and will hope to hit their straps against the gutsy Irish.

Ireland will take heart from recent performances against India, bronze medallists at Tokyo in 2020. In the FIH Pro League in Bhubaneswar earlier this year, Ireland went down 0-1 with a defensive masterclass of a performance. The goal only came in the dying moments by Gurjant Singh. In the Rourkela leg, the Irish went down 0-4 but they abandoned caution, came out of their shell and paid the penalty.

In the European leg of the FIH Pro League, Ireland caused a sensation when they beat Belgium in Antwerp by and astounding 2-1 and 4-1 to reiterate the rapid strides they have made at the elite level even if we discount the experimental nature of many teams involved in the league.

Ireland played the first-ever international match, against Wales, in 1895 in Rhyl, winning 3-0. Ireland also won a silver medal at the 1908 London Olympics losing 1-8 to England in the final as hockey began to take shape internationally. The medals were finally credited to Great Britain for record purposes.

Ireland have made three appearances in the Olympics and as many in the World Cup.

Their return to the Olympic fold was put on hold in Dublin when a last-gasp goal by South Korea denied them a spot at London 2012.

Ireland weren’t to be denied a place at Rio four years later, however. But the entire squad needed to wake up at the crack of dawn to sit in front of a TV screen and watch Australia beat New Zealand 3-2 in the Oceania Cup – a result that sealed their spot in an intricate qualifying format.

Along the way, Ireland’s 1-0 win over a traditional exponent Pakistan in the Hockey World League Semi-finals at Antwerp proved significant. A 4-1 win over Malaysia brought them fifth spot in the tournament and a step closer to Rio.

Ireland finished 10th in Rio but plans to improve on that finish were cruelly dashed in Vancouver, Canada, in a 2019 qualifier. The Green Machine missed Tokyo 2020 by a whisker – a referral in the double-leg qualifier in Vancouver controversially awarded Canada a penalty stroke with only seconds remaining. Their run of bad luck continued in the ensuing shootout which they lost.

Ireland, however, made sure of their presence in Paris when they reversed the 2012 result, winning a thriller 4-3 against South Korea in Valencia, Spain, earlier this year to finish third in a qualifying tournament and make the grade.

Ireland first qualified for the World Cup in 1978 where they finished 12th out of 14 in Buenos Aires. They failed to improve on that finish at Lahore 1990 and slipped to 14th out of 16 in Bhubaneswar in 2018 after a combination of indifferent form and bad luck.

The Irish experienced a high at the 2015 EuroHockey Championship when they beat England 4-2 in London to take the bronze medal. In the second tier, EuroHockey II, the Green Machine have collected gold medals at the 2005, 2009 and 2023 events.

The Irish surge up the ladder was accompanied by their women’s meteoric rise to runners-up in the 2018 World Cup in London where they lost to the Netherlands 0-6 in the final. A one-sided result in the summit clash but it didn’t detract from the Irish ladies’ epic performance, coming out of virtually nowhere to stride the podium.

If Irish eyes are to smile in Paris, their stalwarts must put in an inspirational performance. David Harte, 36, is their iconic goalkeeper of 242 internationals on whom much hinges.

There’s also a wealth of experience that come along a clutch of centurions in the squad, namely forward John McKee (102 caps), defender Daragh Walsh (104), defender Shane O’Donoghue (234), captain and midfielder Sean Murray (140), forward Jeremy Duncan (117), midfielder Michael Robson (162) and defender Lee Cole (124).

Players representing Ireland are selected from the Republic and Northern Ireland. Hockey is growing steadily in Ireland with as many as 32,000 registered players and a healthy gender balance.

A striking performance in Paris would do much to sustain Irish hockey’s rise in stature over the last decade.

Photo Courtesy: Yan Huckendubler