Brahmst’s angst against India is a thing of the past

NEW DELHI: Alan Brahmst is as tough as they come. And as dedicated. He has come to India for the Hero Honda FIH World Cup with every intention to take Canada to the upper echelons of the world game. But India holds a special tryst for the 44-year-old former World Cupper and Olympian whose international career spanned 14 years up until the Sydney Olympics.

Brahmst was understandably an aggrieved Canadian player, hurt and angry after being shunted out of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics when India and Malaysia allegedly fixed a match in the qualifiers in Madrid.

The goalless draw did Canada in but lack of evidence failed to brook appropriate action against both India and Malaysia.

When the teams met at the 1998 Utrecht World Cup, it is believed that the Canadians swore revenge and India found themselves at the receiving end of a 1-4 scoreline.

Brahmst played a central role in the victory but earned himself a post-match expulsion for going up to the Indian bench and making an obscene gesture proclaiming the crushing win was revenge for Madrid. It resulted in a near free-for-all before things calmed down.

Brahmst’s suspension hit Canada hard in the next few matches as the North Americans crashed to eighth after drawing with Germany 4-4 in their opener and running India ragged.

“It is all water under the bridge now, what happened is a thing of the past. India and Canada are very good friends and we want to build on the relationship,” Brahmst said. “India were in Canada for a test series last year and we helped each other other a lot,” he added. “I am very happy being in India,” he said.