Spain finishes at bottom of Pool B

For the 21-year old Spanish captain Alejandro de Frutos, Junior World Cup has not been a pleasant tour. After losing to Argentina 1-0 in today’s match, they ended up at the bottom of the pool B. “It was a disappointing tournament. We played some tough matches, competed against good teams. But if you don’t score, you don’t win.” Spain had earlier lost to France (4-3) and Australia (2-0).

Frutos, a Penalty Corner specialist of his team couldn’t utilize his skills well and was unable to score a single goal so far in the World Cup.

Blaming it to lack of preparation, he said, “The preparation was very short. The only difference between other teams and ours was in terms of preparation. We had very less preparation for the World Cup.”

With nothing to lose after this, they will play for pride when the matches for final standings begin. “Next target is to play well in the final standings. We will try our best there.”

But, he disagreed to the fact that winning or finishing higher up in this World Cup could have helped hockey gain prominence in Spain, which is otherwise a soccer dominated country.

“I don’t think it would have happened. Hockey is not a big sport there. We would have been in news just for one day, that’s all.”

He is down to earth, and the reality holds