Indian Express: From ‘tricky opponents’ to Olympic gold medallists, the Lions can be kings

By Shahid Judge

Gonzalo Peillat and Argentina teammate Agustin Mazzilli, who scored in the final against Belgium, recall their moments of street-fame.

Gonzalo Peillat felt his pulse quicken, as he made his way through the by-lanes of Buenos Aires. He had spent most of his life walking the streets undisturbed. Not this time. He felt the presence of a group of unknown people following him. Till not long ago, he’d been just an ordinary guy, hoping to enjoy a casual stroll in the evening. But to his chasers that day a few months ago, he was the top-scorer during Argentina’s historic hockey gold medal at the Rio Olympics. They wouldn’t let Peillat move any further.

“They all know us on the streets and airports now. Everybody wants to say ‘hi.’ They ask for autographs and photographs. It’s a bit difficult because it’s new,” says the 24-year-old, who is currently a part of the UP Wizards team in the HIL.

Peillat’s teammate in the national team and HIL, Agustin Mazzilli, who scored in the final against Belgium, recalls his own moments of street-fame. He remembers being sought after for photographs by women, planting in him an idea that perhaps it was because of his looks. “Turns out they’re all hockey players. Upcoming Lionesses (national women’s team). They knew who we were and what we’d won,” says Mazzilli. The adulation was of a degree no Argentinian hockey player has received before, especially since the sport is down the pecking order when it comes to popularity in the country. “It was crazy. Almost as if we were footballers,” Mazzilli chuckles.

But in a continent where sport is dominated by football, the fanfare would die down quickly. Despite Argentina developing its own foothold in hockey, the closest countries where they could find world-class sparring partners is in Europe. It’s a fact that drove all the national players to travel the distance and play for clubs in Europe. Ironically, the exodus was the reason they won at Rio.

“Most of us play in Germany, Belgium or the Netherlands in clubs that have other big European players. We play with them daily, and we know their strengths and weaknesses. That was good experience for us to plan our matches,” explains Manuel Burnet, who plays for Royal Daring in Belgium, but is currently with the Delhi Waveriders.Peillat in turn, plays for Mannheim in Germany and Mazzilli in the Netherlands, for Oranje-Rood. The trio is the only Argentines featuring in the HIL this year. Incidentally, not many Argentines got the call up for the HIL, disallowing them the chance to study their Indian opponents from closer quarters. At Rio, Argentina’s only defeat came against India. With the entire core group based in Europe, it made no sense to make players travel the 7000 miles to South America for the national camp. “The support staff and our coach would come to Europe instead and we’d train there,” adds the 31-year-old. In the build-up to the Olympics, Argentina held three national camps in Spain, followed by one in Belgium and a final one in the Netherlands.

Not just a tricky opponent

At that time, the team had been propelled from minnows of the game, to ‘tricky’ opponents capable of pulling off an upset or two. Yet more so because of the dominance of their women’s team – winners of a record seven Champions Trophy titles, two World Cups and two silver and two bronze Olympic medals.

For the men’s team, the first sign of the rise was at the 2014 World Cup where they finished as surprise bronze medallists – Peillat again finished as top scorer in the tournament.

The Olympics, however, is a whole new ball game and not many would have predicted an Argentina win. And at Rio, the Lions – as the team is called – had set realistic goals as well. “Our aim was to get to the semi-finals. When we did, we had to play defending champions Germany,” says Mazzilli. “But when we went 5-0 up, that was when we first started to believe that we could do this. That we could actually win the gold.” It was quite unlike the Football World Cup – where Argentinian hearts were broken by the Germans.The fanfare followed the group of 16 from the Olympic Hockey Centre in Rio to home. Previously, despite the limited government funding and the federation’s push (which has increased since the win), hockey hadn’t received much attention. Now the gold-medallists were being paraded around the capital, travelling from newsrooms to radio stations – explaining their journey of Olympic success.

“There were special shows, some aired during prime time,” Brunet mentions of the gold medal – one of only 3 the South American nation won (apart from judo and sailing). The veteran is among the few players who are not from Buenos Aires. He comes from a smaller city called Rosario – Lionel Messi’s hometown. For a while, Brunet remembers hearing his own name being chanted as one of the city’s favourite sons. “It seems all big players come from Rosario,” he jokes.

At the moment, world hockey’s Olympic champions come from Argentina. And their players have left an impression upon their fans in the most telling way possible – the most Argentinian way. “To win the Olympics in Brazil of all places certainly leaves a mark,” Mazzilli asserts.