TAZEEN QURESHY

In one corner of the west stand of the empty Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar, a group of Dutch fans cheered every time the Netherlands scored the goal. It happened 14 times to be precise, followed by some extra cheer at the end as the Netherlands rout Chile 14-0 and created a new record for the biggest win margin. Among the crowd was Jacques Brinkman, two-time Olympic and World Cup gold medallist. He had come to cheer his son Thierry, the captain of the Dutch team.

“There are eight tough teams who are in contention for the World Cup. The difference is really close. You don’t know who will win,” the former international sums up for www.stick2hockey.com, adding that the Dutch are among the eight teams in contention for the title.

For him, it is a nostalgia of sorts. Jacques, who represented the Dutch in 337 internationals, won the world cup twice – the first in 1990 in Lahore, and the second one in Utrecht his hometown in 1998.

“My memories are of a long time ago. Memories are always nice when you win. In 1998, we won in a football stadium in Holland and in 1990, we defeated Pakistan in Lahore in front of 80,000 people. So, it was really special,” he says.

But, things have changed since his son Thierry, who followed in his father’s footsteps, took up the sport. The format has changed, and so have the rules and regulations.

“The quarter change is new. When we played, India didn’t have beautiful stadiums like this. In our times, Pakistan used to be the top Asian country, but now India is back on top. Now, the player interchange (substitution) can happen anytime. We used to play with the first eleven. If you didn’t do well, you were interchanged and you had to sit on the bench. Now, in the match, every player is fit and that is what makes the game fast-paced.”

But, does he give tips every now and then to his son? “As a father, proud when your son scores. But for the rest, he stays with the team. I don’t say anything.”  Thierry confirms this to stick2hockey. “He doesn’t do that. He is just here to support us. Of course, he has a lot of hockey knowledge, but the game has changed so much. He is really happy to be here.

The Netherlands have won all three pool stage matches and will be playing the quarter finals next. Though they beat the previous record of biggest margin victory in the World Cup when Australia beat South Africa 12-0, their focus clearly elsewhere.

“Is it a record? Yes, it is nice that it is a world cup record but the thing is the next game is the quarterfinal and if you don’t perform in that game, this is nothing. We won today, but it doesn’t give any guarantee into the quarterfinal. The quarterfinal is always against a strong team,” he concludes.