Casper van der Veen, the Netherlands' captain, is playing his third Junior World Cup and is one of the top goal-scorers of the event here so far.
Credit: HI MEDIA
Personally, Casper van der Veen is having a brilliant run at the ongoing FIH Men’s Junior World Cup. He is the captain of the Netherlands team, is leading his boys by example by knocking in goals at will and enjoying the attention he attracts for being one of the tallest players (over 6 feet) on field with an undeniable presence.
A feeling of fulfilment you would assume. "Not really," the 21-year-old told DH.
"It was tough to come here after the loss in the quarterfinal. I badly wanted us to make it to the semifinals and beyond. We as a team are so capable of it," pointed the skipper who couldn't hide his disappointment of losing 0-1 to Argentina in the last-eight clash on Friday.
The world No. 5 side were expected to overpower their South American counterparts ranked three. However, the Dutch struggled to break the Argentinian defence while the opponents capitalised on a rare opening to knock Casper's team out.
Incidentally, this is the midfielder's third Junior World Cup with the previous two also ending in a fifth-place finish. Failing to breach into the top-4 for the third consecutive time sure stings.
"So yeah, really happy that we bounced back today and of course happy that I scored some more goals," said Casper after cruising past New Zealand 6-3 in the first of the 5-8 classification match in which he scored his second hat-trick of the tournament.
The backbone of his team and someone who the entire team looks up to, has found the back of the net nine times in five matches and all of the field goals. With the rivals finding it hard to counter the extra punch generated by the big man, he was seen toying around with the angles once again on Sunday against the Kiwis. The third of three goals, especially. Casper thwacked an air ball that had bounced off his stick while trapping inside the 'D'. "(Haha) yeah that was definitely my favourite out of the lot."
Following the footsteps of elder brother Tejmen, the younger one in the family began playing hockey at the age of five at a club in his hometown Heemstede, a small town in the north-western Netherlands with a population of around 28,000 that has also produced two Olympic hockey bronze medallists -- Roepie Kruize (London 1948) and Annemieke Fokke (Seoul 1988).
"I did everything my brother did. I'm not from a really from a hockey family. Both my parents are IT professionals and my hometown is really small. That's why its very important for me to make them proud. They're here in the stands and were a big support even after we lost."
Another personal milestone Casper achieved earlier this year was making his debut in the senior Netherlands' men's side at the FIH Pro League. What made it more memorable was scoring his first international goal for the 'Oranje'.
"It felt amazing. A childhood dream came true. But there are so many more things to achieve. I'm working hard and enjoying it a lot. Hopefully there are bigger things coming my way. And hopefully, I come back here (India) many more times to play.
"You see how beautiful this stadium is? I really like the people here," declared Casper with a beaming smile he couldn't hold back while looking at the cheerful fans in the stands at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai.