ERROL D’CRUZ

The Red Sticks, as the Spanish hockey team is called, have been ubiquitous at the Olympics and World Cup. Spain’s hockey tradition is striking given its small player base. A guess would be just 5,000 play the sport with a good many from the cradle Terrassa near Barcelona.

The hockey culture in Terrassa (population 250,000) is amazing with reportedly one Olympian per 2,000 citizens! Spain have endured a painful sequence of silver medals at top global events including the 1971, and 1998 World Cups and 1980, 1996, and 2008 Olympic Games.

Their major top prizes include the 1974 and 2005 Euro and 2004 Champions Trophy gold.

On Thursday, Spain play India in the 2024 Paris Olympic men’s competition in the hope of winning their second bronze medal.

The Spanish were outplayed by the Dutch in the semi-finals 0-4 revealing inconsistencies in the campaign.

The Red Sticks began disastrously with a 0-4 defeat to Great Britain but clawed their way back into contention, beating World Cup champions Germany 2-0.

The Red Sticks eventually entered the quarterfinals as fourth from the pool, surviving anxious moments against France who held them 3-3.

Spain then pulled off a sensational coup in eliminating defending champions Belgium 3-2 in a rousing quarterfinal.

The Dutch, who beat Spain 5-3 after overturning a 0-2 deficit in the concluding pool encounter, however, packed too many guns for the Red Sticks in the semi-finals.

Spain’s first-ever podium finish in 1960 yielded a bronze and it marked an unbroken sequence of successive appearances in the Olympics for the Red Sticks who have played in every edition so far since then.

The Spanish, who debuted in 1928, have participated in 19 Olympic Games hockey competitions. They also have the distinction along with India, Germany and The Netherlands to have participated in every World Cup.

The Royal Spanish Hockey Federation in fact hosted the first-ever World Cup in Barcelona in 1971 where they finished runners-up to Pakistan.

For all their limited numbers in terms of players, Spain have been resourceful over the years. They were fortunate to enjoy the services of the German coaching guru Horst Wein who guided the national team in the early 1970s.

Wein brought his tactical development model to Spain and in later years convinced the Spanish federation to conduct Hockey 9s, innovating with rules, especially when it came to the penalty corner.

Spain gained from his guidance which went a long way towards Spain’s clinching the 1974 Euro title in Madrid beating (West) Germany in the final.

The Red Sticks, however, had a chequered history in major international competitions.

A middle-order nation from the mid-1970s to early 1990s, Spain began to flex their muscles in the early 1990s but not before disappointment in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where they finished only fifth.

Of course, that’s if we discount the 1980 Moscow Olympics where Spain played the final against India, losing 3-4 after a grand fightback from 0-3.

Juan Amat, the captain, ignited a rearguard with a hat-trick from penalty corners and a long corner but the Spanish ran out of time to force extra-time.

The fine print says that the US-led Olympic boycott ravaged the field but the final could have graced any top-notch event.

At Atlanta 1996, a clutch of players came together to take Spain to the final where they lost to the Netherlands 1-3 after taking the lead. Players like Victor Pujol, Pablo Uzos, Pablo Amat, Javier Arnau, Ramon Salas and particularly the iconic, influential Juan Escarre were to raise Spain’s profile by leaps and bounds.

The Red Sticks riding a crest reached the 1998 Utrecht World Cup final where they again lost to hosts the Netherlands this time by a golden goal.

They faded to the lower echelons at the turn of the millennium but began a resurgence in the 2000s when another group of “golden generation” players came together.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Spain finished fourth and two years later they clinched the bronze medal at the Monchengladbach World Cup beating South Korea 3-2.

Along the way, the Red Sticks clinched the 2004 Champions Trophy in Lahore and the 2005 Euro title in Leipzig, Germany.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Red Sticks were primed for gold but they stumbled in the final, losing to Germany 0-1.

Much of Spain’s re-entry into the top bracket accrued to Dutch coach Maurits Hendriks and players such as Santi Freixa, Eduardo Tubau, Francisco Fabregas (captain), Ramon Alegre and David Alegre.

The Spanish have since faded as podium material. In recent years, they have given signs of their potential to return as leaders when they made the Euro final in 2019 only to lose to hosts Belgium 0-5 in Antwerp.

Under coach Max Caldas, the Argentine who guided The Netherlands men’s and women’s teams, the squad has been progressing steadily.

Paris 2024 presented a platform for Caldas’ young side to shine on, something they’ve done despite their erratic form.

Spain suffered a blow when experienced forward, 31-year-old Alvaro Iglesias who has 230 caps, sustained an injury.

Ignacio Rodriguez (defender, 28,119), Alejandro Alonso (defender 25, 92), Jorde Bonastre (defender, 23, 72), Marc Miralles (midfielder, 26, 114), Marc Recaseus (defender, 24,89), Gerard Clapes (midfielder, 23, 66) and Joaquin Menini, who switched nationality from Argentina (32, 63 + 110) are some of the other seasoned members who have carried the challenge.

At the recent FIH Pro League, Spain drew one (lost a bonus point via the shootout) and lost one (1-4) match against India but one wipes the slate clean at the Olympics and a tooth-and-nail battle for a coveted medal is on the cards.

The Indians are smarting after a narrow defeat to Germany in the semi-finals. The Spanish, however, may have accepted that they were outplayed by a superior Dutch side and may have recovered faster from the setback.

With the wily Caldas in charge and with a healthy quantum of skill and experience in the squad, Spain could well make a long overdue return to the Olympic podium after 16 years