Bhubaneswar, January 5: Ahead of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, the Chile Men’s Hockey Team reached Odisha on Thursday and received a warm welcome at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here.
Playing in their first ever Men’s Hockey World Cup, the team led by Fernando Renz, will go through their final preparations in Bhubaneswar before setting out for Rourkela, where they will play their opening match of the tournament against New Zealand on January 14.
Chile Captain Fernando Renz said, “We have a good mixture of young and senior players in our squad. Our team is really good and we have been playing together for four years. So, we are a team that is really tough to beat and will be doing our best in the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela.”
The team is placed in Pool C along with the Netherlands, Malaysia and New Zealand. After making their tournament debut, Chile take on Malaysia on January 16, in Rourkela, and round up their group stage campaign against the Netherlands on January 19 in Bhubaneswar. Their first two group-stage matches will start at 1 PM, while the third will be at 3 PM.
“This is our first time in the Men’s Hockey World Cup. We qualified for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela in Santiago, Chile almost a year back and since then, we have been preparing for this prestigious tournament,” said Renz.
The 16 teams participating in the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela are Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, India, Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, England, France, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Chile and Wales.
Meanwhile, Head Coach Jorge Dabanch said, “There are many top teams in the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela and of course hosts India are one of them as well. Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands will be tough teams to beat and we will look to register a win against these top sides in the tournament.”
