Wearing their heart on their sleeves, Spain will hope to cross the final hurdle against Germany on Wednesday to lift their maiden junior world cup title.
Credit: HI MEDIA
Fortune, as they say, favours the brave. And who better to validate this adage than the Spanish under-21 boys’ team at the ongoing FIH Men’s Junior World Cup in Tamil Nadu.
Physically not as muscular or tall, legs that aren’t the fastest, players from a country with football as the dominant sport. Such ‘drawbacks’ could do little to stop the Red Sticks from marching into their maiden final of the event. On the contrary, Spain have capitalised on good chemistry among the players, complete trust in their coach Oriol Puig Torras and concentrating only on their own strengths.
“We are complete animals and that's why we arrived in the final,” says co-captain Guiu Corominas who shares leadership duties with Pablo Roman for the world No. 4 side.
“Our team has a mix of experience and youngsters. We like to go to the pitch and we know our identity.”
The identity, Corominas is referring to, is the Spanish players’ skillful stick work, ability to design variations, control possession through a pass and play pattern, all of which enable them to flow as a single force. These qualities troubled opponents both in the pool stages and during their narrow wins against New Zealand and Argentina in the quarterfinal and semifinal respectively.
“You see in Spain, there's a lot more emphasis on technical abilities. I don't know, maybe it's a culture," points out coach Torras.
"Obviously for me it's more difficult to create technical players than strong players. You can go to the gym four times, make it a routine and become physically stronger (muscular).”
Thankfully for Torras, technique is developed naturally in all Spanish hockey players who mostly come from Terrassa — a city situated about 30 kms northwest of Barcelona.
“When you walk through the streets of Terrassa, the children are always with a stick in their hands. It is more of a tradition than passion. There are several hockey clubs too,” says Torras who also belongs to Terrassa in the Catalonia region.
Incidentally, 14-15 players (including skipper Corominas) in the Spanish set-up are Catalans with three from Madrid and two from Bilbao.
Five hurdles crossed and one remains. For a team that made it to the knockouts as one of the second-best-placed teams from the pool stage, Spain are conscious of the gigantic champion team they are up against in the final. And coach Torras and his boys also understand that world No. 1 Germany play a style of hockey which is polar opposite to theirs.
“For me, Germany is the best team. Not for this tournament, but for the history and for the last two years," said the coach. "I’m also aware of the fact that we need to be our best version on Wednesday. I think my players will play good in the final because it's their day. I will tell you why.
“We have two players now with small injuries, but they told me: ‘Ori, don't worry. We can run, we can compete, we can enjoy and we can win.’ So for me, this is enough for Wednesday. It's not about being tactical or we play with 4-4-2 or we can press. No, no, no. It’s about the Spanish identity (of never giving up and always up for a challenge),” Torras stresses.
A tussle between muscle and heart; structure and skill awaits.