It’s hard to imagine a Spanish team without Pau Quemada. Since making his international  debut in 2003, the 37-year-old has been in the thick of the action as a forward and drag-flicker.

Quemada underlined his longevity as an international player by winning the player-of-the-tournament award at the men’s EuroHockey championship which concluded in Amstelveen in June.

He found the net five times to finish second in the scorers’ list, a crucial contribution to Spain’s qualification for the 2023 World Cup with a fifth-place finish.

Quemada has carried his country’s challenge through the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and 2010 and 2018 World Cups while collecting 278 caps and scoring 119 goals.

He played for Club Egara in Spain before moving to The Netherlands to ply his trade with Laren in 2005. Quemada then moved to Belgium after a year to play for KHC Leuven before returning to Spain in 2009 and joining Real Club de Polo. In 2011 he re-joined KHC Leuven before returning in 2016 to play for his old Club Egara.

Spain travel to the Tokyo Olympics with the hope of improving on the silver medal they have won three times. Whether gold is a realistic ambition or not, the Red Sticks will rely on Quemada’s prowess at the set-piece and his incisiveness as a forward.