Picture : Hockey India
Germany arrived in Bhubaneswar on 25 November with hopes of repeating their 2014 triumph when they beat Pakistan in the Final of the FIH Champions Trophy.
Though the team had a disappointing outing last year at the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final in Bhubaneswar, where they lost the Bronze Medal match to India, the German team is vying for the top spot at the prestigious event to begin on 28 November 2018.
Speaking on the team’s arrival, Florian Fuchs, Captain, said, “It feels good to be back here. We have played a couple of times here and the fans are fantastic. The energy is good. Though right now we are tired after the flight, we can’t wait to get onto the pitch.”
Fuchs further added that the tournament will be tough and one can’t predict favourites in the tournament. “We came here to achieve something and we have the capability and the team for that. It will be quite a tough tournament considering the games are stretched to the last minute and about eight teams are evenly placed,” added Fuchs.
Germany are grouped in Pool D with Pakistan, Malaysia and the Netherlands. They begin their campaign against Pakistan on 1 December.
Ireland too arrived on Sunday afternoon and were elated to be in Bhubaneswar. Grouped in Pool B with Australia, England and China. “We have quite a few senior players as well as youngsters. Many of them have never been to India so there is a lot of excitement among the players,” said David Harte, Skipper of the team. Ireland begin their campaign on 30 November against defending Champions Australia. The Canadian National Team grouped in Pool C along with India, Belgium and South Africa, too arrived early in the morning on 25 November.
