With London in sight, England stake their claim

The last time England reached the semi-finals of the hockey World Cup was way back in 1986, at home, and they finished as the runners-up. On Thursday, they all but booked their slot in the last four of the ongoing edition for only the second time in the history of the tournament with a clinical 5-2 victory over Pakistan that put them on top of the Pool B. England have won all three of their three pool games till now.
England were never one of the favourites for the title, but the way they have played so far, it would be wiser to include them in the race. Having scored 14 goals so far, the English have proved their victory at the European championships was no fluke.

As such, England’s success perhaps only reflects their preparation for the 2012 Olympics. The budget for hockey went up considerably since the Games were awarded to London and £14.1m have been put into the sport just for the four-year period between 2009 and 2013 as part of UK Sport’s Mission 2012.

The players insist, though, that they are not looking that far ahead. “We look to peak in every tournament that we play. We did not come into the World Cup thinking of the Olympics, this is not just a test event for the Olympics,” said captain Barry Middleton.

Best in a while

At the same time, he admits that this is, perhaps, the best England team in some time. “I won’t say it’s the best ever, but yes, perhaps it’s one of the best, and the best in the last 15-20 years,” Middleton added. And James Tindall feels that, more than anything else, it was the desire to beat top teams like Australia and Pakistan that motivated the team. “The biggest factor in England’s success is our team effort and fighting spirit. We have been working hard for a long time and the results are starting to show,” said Tindall.

Asked about their performance against Pakistan, Middleton said it was perhaps their best game in the tournament so far. “It showed what kind of team we are, and how good we are as a team,” he said.

Asked about the reasons behind England’s recent success, both pointed out the growing pool of players. “We now have a more talented, technical group of players and the coach has given us the freedom to play our game,” Middleton said.

Coach Jason Lee refused to comment on any future or long-term plans, only saying that “there is a long way to go.”

But given the way they have played so far, the way to Olympic success seems pretty clearly chalked out.